The Winter Solstice
by TurtleHaus
Summary: The Winter Solstice marks the beginning of Princess Sapphire's journey in wielding the ancient power of the Northern Lights, but that's the least of her worries as a new Prince is looking for her hoof in marriage and Smolder isn't too happy about it.
1. Chapter 1: Table Settings

At the bottom of the world resided a realm ruled by King Hail and Queen Stellar in Hoarfrost Castle. A massive continent surrounded completely by frozen water where the land never thawed, the sky rarely shared the sun, and it always seemed to snow. This was the frozen wonderland that the snow ponies of the south had come to know.

The south was known to be the sister kingdom to the Frozen North, akin to their brethren ice ponies, but the kingdom kept to itself for many reasons. Their realm was naturally cut off from the rest of Equestria and chose to remain impartial to events the rest of the world concerned itself with.

Being polar opposites to their spiritual cousins from north, snow ponies were minimalist in much of their desires and focused on improving themselves physically rather than monetarily or spiritually. To survive in such an environment it was necessary to cultivate a way of life that would allow snow ponies to overcome the harsh conditions of their world. In the same vein of their northern counterparts, the snow ponies would seek to free their mind of their physical limitations, and build a kingdom that would reflect such values. It takes a great amount of effort to move in snow, even more effort to carry out tasks in the snow, and the land provided very little.

These ideals outlasted anything in their frozen wasteland, building a kingdom with what little resources they had, the snow ponies built a kingdom and flourished within it for several centuries. Such ideals also painted their view of the outside world in many negative ways, believing that such comforts warmer climates provided created weak and lazy ponies. For snow ponies mirrored the strength of flame ponies, their bodies hard like the frozen ground, their command of ice focused yet destructive, and their resolve unyielding.

While there have been many attempts to reach Hoarfrost Castle by many distant neighbors across the great seas through letters, none dared to cross the frozen wastelands of the south. There was nothing of trade to be had, no money to be made in anything the snow ponies valued, but the snow storms provided from the south were always on many main-lander ponies minds.

The natural laws of nature dictated the seasons bringing spring, summer, fall and winter to the rest of Equestria. Yet, there were times where nature becomes too unpredictable. Harsh winters were nothing the snow ponies feared, but their mainland neighbors across seas would seek out their assistance when snowstorms proved too intense.

Lord Hail and Lady Stellar would extend their good will towards the ponies across the seas, having a strong magical connection with the weather of their realm, and lessening the severity of the storms. It was one of many courtesies that their kingdom provided, lessening the size of glaciers that broke off from their land or ships unknowingly sailing through ice waters and having the ice shelf freeze around them overnight. Their command of the weather of their part of world had been years of self taught mastery through deep magical connections within the land and a strong host to preside over it. Which is why the line of royalty within Castle Hoarfrost has trained diligently for many years to obtain such powers over nature and rule alongside it with wisdom.

The young Prince Acrylic, the only son of Lord Hail and Lady Stellar, spent many grueling years being molded into the perfect host of such powers to one day be seated on the throne ruling over all the land and its unforgiving snow. Yet, the young prince wanted more.

In his youth the young prince had listened to the distant travelers, who had shipwrecked upon their shores due to their ever shifting ice, share stories within bitter cold taverns of other beings of enormous power throughout the world. Of a Mad King threatening to cover the world in a sea of fire, of a being known as Discord throwing the world into chaos, and of Tirek who sought to rule Equestria in times long passed. Acrylic wanted the life of an adventurer, of a conqueror, to have travelers speak of his story for ages to come. To have left a mark upon the world that no pony would forget.

Throughout the years Acrylic had begged his parents for a life beyond the kingdom, beyond the shackles of his family's traditions, and beyond the idea of just being a host. There was nothing for it, his life was one more subjective task after another until his eighteenth birthday where Acrylic was finally bestowed this ancient power by his father. Cementing his place within the Kingdom for the rest of his days, until he would take a wife, and have children of his own to which he would then mold into the same vessel he was made to be.

What few travelers that ever visited their Kingdom rarely spoke of any new stories, nothing that seemed to change the very face of Equestria. That is, until one traveling pony had brought a book that spoke of a runaway princess, a newly crowned flame king, the rise of an Elder Dragon, and that it all ended with a battle against a dark spirit from another dimension. A story that had once again ignited the deep desires of a young prince, desires that now had fine edge to them, that would cut cleanly into the hearts of those that stood against them.

One night, within the royal dining room, Lord Hail, Lady Stellar, and Prince Acrylic dined together as they always had at seven o'clock sharp. The young prince was looking rather anxious, desiring to speak, gambling at his chance before dinner had concluded.

"Father, I wanted to ask—"

"We do not speak until our meal is done."

The King was an older stallion. His mane bore of clouds of ice that rippled like water all down his back. He sported a beard that swayed in a ghastly way whenever he lifted his fork to his mouth. The tone of his voice groaned like hulls of trapped ships being crushed beneath the creeping ice. His eyes alone were intense enough to have Acrylic refrain from speaking any further.

The prince lowered his head, passive-aggressively stabbing at his bits of juniper berries and gobbling them up quickly.

His mother eyed him glaringly about the attitude she saw on display. She was an older mare. Her shallow cheeks provided an impression of the she chewed. Her physique was gaunt, dressed in a formal gown that draped from her frail figure like curtains in a drafty hall. Her mane was thin of clouds, barely billowing from her neck, hiding the thinning areas with her crown and shall that draped over her shoulders.

It would be another twenty minutes before dinner was announced to be over and the time for evening discussions were to commence. Traditionally, it was the King's prerogative to begin the discussion or choose a pony to start one. He chose his Queen to speak first.

"Were you able to respond to Lord Tundra's invitation about us not attending his Winter Solstice, darling?"

"Indeed, darling. I promptly wrote back thanking them for thinking of us, but clearly stated that we would not be attending this year."

The prince sat quietly. Bearing down on his teeth, wanting nothing more than to speak, but knew his interruption would void him of his turn. Nearly a half hour had passed. Acrylic gripped the arms of his chair so tightly from his aggravation that it started to crack the marble.

Lord Hail turned his attention towards his son, finally offering him the opportunity to speak.

"Was there anything you wanted to discuss, Acrylic?"

His eyes flashed with excitement. "If you would, father, there is something I wish to know more about from this book."

"What book?"

"The one you received from his majesty, Lord Tundra."

"Your fascination over that book is becoming obsessive, Acrylic. What could you possibly want to know?"

Acrylic went to speak but was cut short by his mother's interjection.

"You're not leaving this realm, Acrylic. We've already discussed this."

Acrylic sneered at his mother.

"I simply desire to know more, mother. Since I am unable to speak with the author face to face."

Lady Stellar laughed. "As if any of what that pony wrote has an ounce of truth to it."

Thunder rolled overhead. It was not uncommon for the Southern Realm to have storms, but this storm was not of nature's design. The white of Acrylic's eyes had dimmed to a grey, the blue in his eye becoming ultraviolet, but it passed just as quickly as did the thunder.

Lord Hail already seemed tired of the conversation. "What is it that you desire to know?"

Acrylic turned to look at his father. A smile forced its way out, unable to contain his excitement.

"What makes a good story?"

* * *

I yawned.

The corridor to the sparring room seemed so much longer this morning. My eyes felt heavy. Lack of sleep and early mornings had made me a dangerous combination of exhausted and short-tempered. By comparison, I was accompanied by an energetic Princess that seized the morning as if it was a prize needing to be won. She was an ice pony from the Northern Kingdom who had risked her life to help me save a whole other dimension from an evil celestial being. Princess Sapphire was a morning pony.

"Did you attend this morning's security briefing?" Sapphire asked.

I yawned again. "With both eyes shut."

Sapphire narrowed her eyes at me. "You need to be awake and alert for those types of meetings, Smolder."

"Well, I would be, if somepony didn't take away my coffee privileges."

"You drink entirely too much coffee and it's not good for you."

"Remind me who's the King again?" I asked with a frown.

"Only in title, not in practice. Which is why I'm here to turn you into a halfway decent King so you don't embarrass yourself in front of the rest of Equestria."

"I don't see how being casual with ponies is such a bad thing."

"Because a King needs to be a good leader, not just a good friend. Ponies must trust in your judgement even if it goes against their personal views on the subject and you must be ready to ask the impossible of your friends if the need ever arises. Because a King must put the best interests of his kingdom and his ponies before his own feelings. Which is why everypony knows not to go against my wishes and bring you coffee."

"What about taking things in moderation? Why do I have to go cold turkey?"

Sapphire rolled her eyes at me. "Don't be such a filly."

For the past six months the Princess of the Frozen North has been frequenting the castle, in the effort of making me into a respectable King. I was told by many my superior that I needed a teacher, an instructor to help mold me into this vision of the King that everypony was expecting of me. Luckily for me, Sapphire offered to be the one to show me the ropes, but these ropes seemed miles long with complicated knots I had to work through.

We arrived at two giant obsidian doors. It blended in with the rest of the castle wall and many ponies would never see it without being told of its existence.

A blue hue of magic erupted from Sapphire's horn, the door outlined with her magic. It slid open, revealing a rather wide circular area with several tall windows that stretched towards the high ceiling. It was the Royal Training Room. It was our morning routine, our daily workout, the time in which Sapphire beat the ever-living hay out of me.

"Hurry up and stretch," Sapphire ordered.

I yawned again. "Yeah, yeah."

Roman had made many additions to Castle Char. The damage done by the Elder Dragon gave a lot of freedom to explore new ideas and areas for the castle. Many of his ideas were approved because he realized putting the word 'royal' in front of everything made it seem like it was necessary. I personally enjoyed the Royal Snack Bar.

A hard twist of my neck brought a cracking sound. Leaning forward, dragging my back legs and raising my wings, I felt my back popping as if it were a bunch of little fireworks. Taking a deep breath and holding it in, I made my flames roar for a few seconds before settling down.

"Are you finished?" Sapphire asked.

Rolling my shoulders, I noticed Sapphire hadn't limbered up. "Aren't you going to stretch?"

"I did. An hour before you woke up."

My eyes were the last things I rolled. I approached Sapphire, stepping into a crude chalky sparring circle she had drawn many weeks ago. We were nearly nose to nose with each other.

"We'll start with Deer Form."

I snorted.

"Really? Every time?" Sapphire asked.

"It's not a good name," I replied.

"Oh, and Ember Dancing is any better?"

"Sounds better."

Deer Form, despite its silly name, was a close hoof to hoof combat that ice ponies used. It used speed and transferal of your opponent's energy against them, able to freeze an opponent or render them unconscious in seconds.

The sparring match would only end if one was to be overpowered, taken down, pinned, or be forced to submit. It was called Deer Form due to sudden thrust of energy when two deer collide with their horns.

"Ready?" Sapphire asked.

The movement of my hoof against the side of hers was my acknowledgment that I was. Sapphire threw a quick succession of strikes, all ranging from my chest to my neck to my head. I recognized it to be form three of the style and found myself routinely blocking each hit she threw.

"Good."

Sapphire stepped forward. She started with her left hoof, signaling that this would be the third tier grapple and possible throw. I remember my flank was sore for a week when she first tossed me.

Her hooves gripped my shoulder and arm. My reaction the first time encountering this move was to step away, which played right into her hooves as she kicked out my back legs to knock me off balance, allowing her to toss me. This time I stepped forward, gripping her arm and placing my elbow against her chest. It provided me with a strong stance and stopped her from approaching even more.

"You've gotten better."

"Yeah, but no pony is going to willingly grab a flame pony though."

"Be that as it may, you may end up fighting another flame pony or ice pony at some point and you'll be ready."

Sapphire's grip weakened. We backed away from each other. She had stepped out of the sparring circle which meant that we were no longer fighting.

"You seem rather alert considering you're without your precious coffee." Sapphire jested.

I smirked. "Deer Form is becoming predictable."

"Well then, let's try something a little more robust," Sapphire offered.

"Such as?"

Ice crept across her body. Her ice coated the feathers of her wings, freezing them in a thin layer of ice that was imbued with magic from her horn that sharpened them to a razors edge. With a whip of her cloudy mane she smirked at me.

"Roman and Crow haven't gotten around to rebuilding the one I used from the battle with the Orc," I said.

In preparing for the battle with the Orc, I had copied Sapphire's technique using a much more robust version. A shield like crest that sat upon my back with two slots for my wings to slide into, the mechanism would slide blades across my feathers before securing the whole weapon to my wings. It was ingeniously designed by Roman and Crow, but having won that battle I had no pressing need to have it rebuilt. Although, Sapphire did not seem interested in my excuses.

"You're a clever colt. You'll think of something."

There was a remarkable display of reflective lights from her ice covered feathers. Sapphire raised her wings while beginning to crouch. A very big tell that she was going to attack.

I was backpedaling away. "Whoa, let's not get too hasty, Sapphire!"

It was clear that Sapphire was in unusually competitive spirits today. Unfortunately, that meant I was clearly outmatched.

"Keep your guard up, Smolder!"

I felt Sapphire's hoof strike my jaw. The Ice Princess was being less than forgiving with my openings, punishing me for it whenever she had the opportunity. I preferred taking a shot to the chin than allowing a razor feather to flay me.

Sapphire's movements were elegant, not wasting a single step or breath in her onslaught. It was quite mesmerizing to behold, which probably got a lot of her opponents cut or worse.

Still, I knew better than to allow myself the luxury of staring at such a sight. Unable to replicate Sapphire's technique without the aid of my contraption, my focus was now on trying to remove the ice from her wings to prevent her from cutting me to ribbons.

Spewing fire against the stone flooring, I ducked and weaved my way around Sapphire's strikes. Flaring my mane, raising the heat of my flames higher and higher before the room itself began to cook.

Sapphire was beginning to look uncomfortable, trying harder and harder to create more ice, but the lack of water in the air proved to be detrimental to her ability to continue fighting. Droplets of water were becoming cascades from her wing tips. Her razor sharp icicles were now brittle and nearly melted.

"How's that?" I asked.

While I was looking for some sort of approval from her, Sapphire did not like the idea of being outwitted.

"I can still fight!"

"You haven't got any ice left!" I retorted.

A whip of her wing flung a stream of water that caught me in the face. The water turned to vapor in an instant while I covered my face with my arm from the painful stinging.

I groaned in pain while backing away, holding up my hoof to Sapphire and signaling I had conceded to her.

There was a sudden gasp before feeling Sapphire's hoof gingerly touching the arm I used to cover my face.

"Smolder, I am so sorry! Are you alright?"

Sitting myself down I felt Sapphire carefully touching the sides of my face, wondering how bad the water burn would be. In all honesty it would have been puffy or swollen for a regular flame pony, but as I removed my arm I had just a bit of redness around my eyes. One of the perks I had discovered of having the Phoenix Flame was the recovery rate of wounds. I had been training almost everyday to understand and better use this power that had been passed down through my family for generations.

"Yeah, I think so."

The pain had come and gone. I was adjusting my eyes back to the light of the room, feeling Sapphire's hooves still tracing around my face and examining me closer. She seemed wracked with guilt over what happened.

"I guess I still need to learn to keep my guard up," I said.

"It was inexcusable. I could have seriously injured you, Smolder. Perhaps even blinded you."

"Like you said, I may be fighting an ice pony someday and they'll use something like this to their advantage."

"Don't try to make excuses for me. I took it too far and you got hurt."

I reached up taking hold of her hooves clutching my face. "I know you'd never hurt me on purpose, Sapphire."

Sapphire's face flushed a dark purple, her hooves slowly gripping my face tighter and tighter.

"Sapp-Sapphire? My face?"

"Oh!"

I felt my face come free from her grip.

"That's enough of a warm up today," Sapphire said quickly.

Moving away from me, the princess turned on a dime and headed for the door. With a whip of her wings the sauna of a room was instantly cooled by her ice, leaving a thin mist hanging about. I was holding my face, massaging my cheeks, wondering if I should say something more.

"Sapphire?"

"You still have to meet with Roman at the Magic Academy build site today to oversee some of the new additions he's planning on including to the structure. Don't forget to bring Mira with you if she isn't already there."

She had the large obsidian door open before I could think of something to say. So I blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "Are we still having dinner tonight?"

It was enough to have Sapphire stop hard. She seemed a bit flustered by my question. I watched her head tilt towards me. She did her best to let her cloudy mane hide her flushed face.

"If… you're still okay with it."

"Totally."

I earned a smile from Sapphire. Before she could step through the door another pony was attempting to step in, nearly running into her.

"Bleak? What are you doing here?" Sapphire asked.

Bleak Weather was a pegasus, colored a royal blue with a cloudy mane rich in the color purple. This morning it was delivering the incident reports from yesterday's patrol.

"I've come to deliver these to Smolder."

"Lord Smolder," Sapphire corrected.

Bleak rolled his eyes.

Bleak stepped around Princess Sapphire to meet with me.

"A couple of incident reports from Ms. Fizzle. Nothing too serious, no injuries, but it may come up in the evening security briefing," Bleak reported.

"Thanks, Bleak."

As I glanced over the reports, I found Sapphire nearly shoulder to shoulder with me seemingly curious to what they were about as well. I passed her the top slate that I was already done with for her to review. Taking the slate, Sapphire could see that Bleak had circled the finer points of each incident, cutting the reading down to a couple of lines.

"So, you're having Bleak run errands for you?" Sapphire asked.

"Of course not, Bleak volunteered to deliver the incident reports to allow me more time to deal with other things."

"And what does Bleak get out of this?"

"Summer."

Sapphire nodded seeming content with that answer. The moment she turned her back Bleak pulled out an apple tart from under his wing and quickly tossed it to me. I ate it hurriedly.

We had come to an agreement that if I gave Bleak our weekly schedule of royal duties, he would bring me delicious snacks. Sapphire's royal dietitian had visited a few weeks prior and had a few choice words about my eating habits. It was the perfect way to get what we both wanted with an airtight cover.

Wiping my mouth clean of crumbs, I hoof bumped Bleak before clearing my throat to get Sapphire's attention.

"I'll be going to see Roman now, Sapphire. I'll see you at dinner tonight," I said.

"Of course, I'll come collect you after your evening security briefing with the Night Watch," Sapphire replied.

"Right."

Bleak and I headed for the door. I noticed Bleak had managed to sneak another apple tart under his wing, offering it to me. I took it quickly, devouring it before we reached the door. It opened to us revealing Summer stepping through. She stopped short, looking surprised to find Bleak inside.

"What are you doing here, Bleak?" Summer asked.

"Just running some errands for the King," Bleak replied.

"Are you sneaking snacks under your wing again?"

Summer was quick to apprehend Bleak, checking under both his wings for signs of food but found him snackless. Bleak smiled wide, feigning his innocence. Summer turned to me as I struggled to keep a straight face with a mouth full of tart.

"Don't waste time getting back to your duties, Bleak, or else Flare won't be the only pony you'll be answering to."

Bleak cleared his throat with a rather mischievous smile forming across his face.

"Are… we still on for the carnival tomorrow night?" Bleak asked.

Summer flushed nervously looking from Bleak to me. I could sense that my presence was no longer necessary and excused myself.

Once outside in the hallway I quickly pressed myself up against the side of the doorway to hear what Summer had to say. Bleak had been talking about this particular date with Summer for the last couple of weeks and I too wanted to know what she was going to say.

"Bleak, I'm sorry, but Sapphire might be returning to the Frozen North earlier than we anticipated. It's for the preparations for the Winter Solstice. We might have to reschedule," Summer replied.

There was a look of disappointment on Bleak's face, but he did his best to hide it with a smile. Summer was already looking quite miserable herself, having given him the bad news.

"Next time then."

Bleak stole a kiss from her. Summer covered her mouth, flushing a deep orange at the prospect of being familiar in front of Princess Sapphire.

I hurried away from the door, bolting around the corner to hide my eavesdropping. I watched as Bleak walked out into the hallway, letting his disappointment come flooding out. He kicked a three hundred year old statue with his back leg in frustration while cursing under his breath about his luck. He turned the corner to find me waiting for him.

"Not a fan of statues, huh?" I asked.

My sarcasm didn't seem to land as he walked past me without a word.

"I'm guessing Summer's busy again."

"Is there something you needed, Your Majesty?"

I could tell that Bleak wasn't in the mood to talk. Which was difficult because I knew the best way to reach a pony.

"No, but I-"

"Then I have to get back to my duties, I don't get to spend all day with my special pony like you do."

The floor was layered with a thin layer of frost from Bleak's silent anger before he stormed off. I didn't want to argue about his assumptions about Princess Sapphire and I, but I could tell he was trying very hard not to let out his anger on me. I looked after him just as he turned the corner of the long corridor, knowing that there was something I could possibly do for him.

[hr]

Sapphire and I were having dinner together in the royal dining hall. It was perhaps the largest and dreariest place in the castle, being nearly three times the size of the throne room, but far less used for many reasons. Topping the list was the obsidian floors, walls, and ceiling bringing the whole room into a blackness that instantly felt depressing. The table itself was carved from a dark granite along with the chairs that offered zero comfort in terms of flank or back support. Even with the windows open the dining room smelled of wet clay.

Roman had suggested on many occasions that we simply demolish it from end to end and cursing the dragon for not targeting the uglier parts of the castle in its rampage. I, personally, would have been the first pony to take a sledge to the side of the wall to begin its remodeling, but other areas of the castle were in need of repairs first.

The room was meant to entertain many ponies of nobility, although we weren't planning on entertaining any ponies for quite some time, but Sapphire and I used just the first two available chairs at the head of the table.

Tonight we were served some rather slimming hay cubes, a few carrots, some apple slices, and a cup of carrot juice. It wasn't much of a feast thanks to Sapphire's royal dietitian and made sure to enforce a rather strict meal plan for us. Neither Sapphire or I were crazy about it.

I was chewing on a carrot when Sapphire sighed, longingly rolling one of her hay cubes end over end on her plate. I could tell she was tired from the lackluster meals as I was.

Luckily, I had put in a special request to Bleak earlier today, and I could feel the satchel against my knee having been tucked away behind the leg of the table. Reaching for it, I retrieved the emergency snack bag.

Sapphire magically poked at her carrot, looking none too thrilled about it. A soft red glow of my magic neared her plate, a cupcake floating gently through the air as it set itself down in front of her. A smile came across her face as she glanced over at me as I shrewdly pretended to be busy eating my carrot.

"The Royal Dietitian would put you on a strict roughage-only meal plan if he saw this," Sapphire remarked.

"I'm not the pony eating it."

Her face flushed slightly. She unwrapped the paper before taking a bite. A shiver shot through her body, a rather sensual moan escaped from her as she closed her eyes in a cupcake euphoria.

I felt myself flush after hearing her swoon, I did my best to occupy myself with the last of my apple slices while Sapphire ate the rest of the cupcake.

"So, Sapphire… I wanted to ask you something."

She was quick to wipe her mouth with her napkin, magically disposing of the cupcake wrapper before giving me her undivided attention.

"Yes?"

"Would you be able to stay for another day?"

"I'm afraid I cannot. The Winter Solstice is fast approaching and my mother and father will be up to their necks in preparations. My presence there will alleviate some of the burden."

I felt like a door just shut in my face over this discussion. Picking at my carrot, my mind raced for another angle or reason to convince her to stay at least for one more day.

"Just… out of curiosity… why did you want me to stay?"

Looking up, I saw Sapphire's face slightly flushed, glancing at me from the corner of her eyes. My mane flared, feeling my own face beginning to flush.

"I-I-I don't have a date for the carnival tomorrow."

Sapphire's face flushed again. Quickly diverting her eyes back to her plate, she started to dribble her carrot in small circles, trying not to become flustered.

I had already slapped myself in the head for having used the word 'date'. Bleak and Summer were the ones supposed to be going on a date tomorrow and I may have just ruined it.

"I-I can understand the need for a companion for such public events. The pressure to be accompanied for such things can be taxing. I-I-I was planning on asking you something similar."

Nervously stirring her carrots around her plate, Sapphire did her best to remain unaffected by her own words, but flakes of snow were quickly sprinkling from her mane.

I nearly dropped my fork with my magic, desperately trying to settle my nerves. "M-me?"

"The-The Winter Solstice requires all attendees to be accompanied by a suitable partner. Tra… tra… traditionally it is required by royalty to begin the festivities with a d-dance."

"You… want me? To-to-"

I struggled to get the word out. Both frightened and surprised at the same time at such a request.

"I-I-I assure you that it is no way a-a-a date or anything of that nature! Finding somepony I'm comfortable with… what I mean to say is that we-we-we are easier to get along with than- than…"

Sapphire's plate suddenly froze over. Her fork nervously stabbed the plate, cracking it down the middle and making both of us jump. Dropping her fork on the table, she lowered her head to let her embarrassment flourish beneath her billowing cloudy mane, face nearly a royal purple.

I laughed nervously, speaking in a much louder register than I had intended. "I-I guess it's only fair!"

I ended up purposely smashing my plate in hopes of easing Sapphire's embarrassment, but all it did was make her jump in surprise again.

"If-if you're willing to stay an extra day just to help me out, then-then I can most assuredly help you with the Winter Solstice."

Sapphire seemed to be willing to work this new angle I had offered.

"A-agreed! Such tiring social duties will be more easily handled if we attack them together."

With our dinner plates now smashed, we had nothing really to occupy ourselves with. Awkwardly forced to stare at the remains of dinner and try to find something that would relieve our tension.

Sapphire was now willing to stay, although our presence at this festival would most assuredly be requiring some sort of bodyguard. Which meant I had done nothing but add to the problem.

"Could…" I began. "Could it… just be… the two of us?"

A thin layer of ice quickly formed around most of Sapphire's body, literally freezing up to the question. It was my turn to duck my head from embarrassment, wondering how in the hay I had gotten so deep into this.

"...okay…"

Embers fell from my mane. I could see them fizzling to the floor before turning to black dots. I slowly looked up to Sapphire who seemed rather flustered but she made no attempt to hide it.

"I… enjoy our time together… Smolder."

"And… having you here makes me happy, Sapphire," I replied.

My response was almost reactionary. Sapphire usually praised me for my efforts in becoming a learned pony of royalty and it was my response to compliment her in turn. This made Sapphire's mane storm with hundreds of small snowflakes billowing out around her. She hid her face, turning away from me, to avoid letting me see how embarrassed she was.

My head was so low to the table felt that I was nearly kissing it. I held my tongue between my teeth to stop myself from speaking again. Feeling so angry with myself for being such a dork.

"I'm… happy you feel that way," Sapphire said.

Our eyes met over frozen carrots and broken dinner plates. Sapphire was the first to turn away out of embarrassment from her own words this time.

Pieces of the crushed dinner plates were being pushed across the table. Sapphire turned once more to see my hoof reaching across the table to her.

"Will you have my back tomorrow, Sapphire?" I asked.

This was our promise. The first time our trust had been put to the test, where we had put our lives on the line for one another and promised to stand by each other through the worst.

Sapphire smiled shyly, taking my hoof with her own. Finding it almost amusing that the last time I had asked her this we would most certainly be heading to our demise.

"You don't have to ask, Smolder."

* * *

There was red all over the floor. It pooled from two bodies. The first a full grown mare, throat cut deep, eyes open and vacant. Closer by lay the other, a full grown colt, heart run through, blood lining the grooves of the tiles upon the marble floor. Both had worn crowns, each had been having dinner, and had now taken their last breaths.

All that was left was colt at the peak of his adolescence, face splattered and wings soaked with red. At his hooves was the book he had obsessed over, fallen open to the chapter of the Fire King's endowment of ancient power from his deceased parents. A power now solely his, a kingdom now under his rule, and a smile that hinted at an even greater agenda. A turn of the page revealed his motive, the prize at the end of his conquest.

"I shall be seeing you soon, Lady Sapphire."


	2. Chapter 2: Pre Carnival Jitters

Summer Hearth, royal bodyguard of Lady Sapphire, arrived at the dining hall to collect Princess Sapphire and escort her to her room. Upon her arrival Lady Sapphire was already standing outside the doors of the hall speaking with Lord Smolder. Summer was quick to notice how flustered she was and how awkward Lord Smolder seemed to be.

"Everything… okay?" Summer asked slowly.

"Yes, everything is just fine. Smolder and I were just about to call it a night." Sapphire replied.

Summer eyed the two of them suspiciously. "Okay…"

Smolder stepped out into the hall. Summer noticed the flames on his mane were rippling rather peculiarly, which told her that he was rather nervous for some reason.

"Goodnight… Sapphire." Smolder said with a bow of his head.

"Pleasant dreams, Smolder." Sapphire replied.

The two mares watched Smolder head down the corridor, doing his best to walk naturally, knowing that their eyes were completely fixed on him.

Once he was out of sight, Summer looked over st Lady Sapphire to see that her face had become smitten and spaced out.

"Ahem!" Summer cleared her throat.

Sapphire jumped at Summer's effort to snap her back to her senses. Trying to act like she wasn't completely entranced by the lord of the castle's flank.

"Shall we?" Sapphire questioned.

Together the two mares made their way back to their rooms. Summer waited until they were alone and out of earshot of anypony before grilling her with questions.

"How… was your dinner with Lord Smolder, my Lady?" Summer asked cautiously.

"It was… interesting." Sapphire replied.

This time Sapphire could not hold back a smile. This alerted Summer that something much more personal might have taken place.

"Interesting how?"

Sapphire cleared her throat trying to regain a more regal composure.

"We shall be staying for another day here at castle, Summer. Lord Smolder has asked that I accompany him to the carnival tomorrow in exchange for—"

"Hold up,"

Summer threw on the brakes hard. Sapphire stopped to look at her seeing the bewildered expression she wore.

"What happened to the 'mother and father will be absolutely livid if I'm not back home tomorrow' talk we had earlier?" Summer asked in a voice that poorly mimicked Sapphire's.

Sapphire flushed at her mockery. "Well… that was then and this is now."

"So when I have a date with my special somepony it's tough carrots, but when Lord Hot Saddle asks you out on a date then—"

"It's not a date!" Sapphire snapped.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't realize that your hooves we're tied on this matter. I guess you take orders from him now and you simply can't refuse to go to the carnival with him."

"It's merely a favor for a favor! He will be accompanying me to the Winter Solstice in return for me accompanying him to the carnival."

Summer choked a surprised laugh. "Are you being serious right now?"

"What?" Sapphire asked meekly.

"You seriously asked Smolder to be your date for the Winter Solstice?"

"It's not a—"

"Where he will have to dance with you in front of all the Lords and Ladies from all over Equestria before being introduced to your parents, namely your father, as your date for the evening, and accompany you to the Well of Spirits?"

Sapphire was flushing a bright purple now, realizing the amount of exposure they would have in front of many royal ponies. The carnival was much more reserved and local which would limit the amount of ponies gossip on why they were there in the first place.

"Have you told him you like him yet?" Summer asked abruptly.

"What!" Sapphire quipped in surprise.

"Oh come one, it's no secret that you spend everyday with him, have all your meals together, you live in the same castle, attend meetings and events together. I know it's for a specific purpose but I was just wondering if you're… you know…"

Sapphire flushed a deep purple. "What?"

It was Summer's turn to flush a light shade of orange. "Getting fresh with him."

In an unladylike fashion, Sapphire attempted to silence Summer by covering her mouth with her hooves, but Summer fended her off.

"I've already told you that Smolder is interested in Ms. Herbal!" Sapphire hissed.

"So you have no feelings for him then? None at all?"

"Well of course I have feelings for him, it would be a lie to deny that. But, it's strictly mutual and solely based on a friendship!"

Summer narrowed her eyes at the flushing princess. It was easy to tell when Sapphire was embarrassed, but Summer was one of the few ponies who knew her well enough to know when she was lying.

"Strictly mutual?" Summer questioned.

"The strictest."

Sapphire found herself being pulled into a hug. A rare thing when concerning Summer. The hug lasted for well over a minute, as it was gingerly returned by Sapphire who felt confused to why it was needed.

"Maybe he likes you too." Summer whispered.

Snowflakes started to trickle down from Sapphire's mane. Summer didn't get a response back. Perhaps it was from the embarrassment she was feeling or maybe her refusal to admit it, but Summer almost knew for certain that it made her stop to question such an idea.

Backing away, Sapphire seemed rather troubled by the notion.

"I'm here to help transition Smolder into the life of a king. More so than what he already is. It would be unfair to Ms. Herbal if I used my good intentions to try and… and… well…"

"If that's all you got as an excuse than let's go back home tonight." Summer interjected.

Sapphire looked surprised by her response. "I beg your pardon?"

Summer seemed annoyed now. "If you're not into him then why the hay did we spend all these months hanging around here anyways?"

"To… to help him become a better King." Sapphire retorted.

Summer scoffed. "So going to this carnival is going to make him a better king how exactly? At best it would have taken a month to get him on track and that would have been the end of it."

Sapphire's mane started to billow like storm clouds from her annoyance with Summer's snarky remarks.

"What is your problem?"

"I signed up to protect a Princess not a wallflower."

"Excuse me!"

"Just tell that stupid colt you like him and be done with it!"

Sapphire tried to speak but found herself to frazzled to even form a single word. She could feel her face growing warm and her mane showering snowflakes.

Summer took a firm hold of Sapphire's shoulders, staring her down in a fierce way.

"Tomorrow you're going to tell that blithering idiot of a colt how you feel, you're going to let him stew in his own dumb feelings to let him figure out which mare he wants to have as his special somepony, and you're going to move on with your life with or without him."

Her words were blunt and clear, yet they seemed to cut deep within her. It was true that there were such times that the idea did cross her mind, but she was always too afraid to say it.

"You've always fought for what you wanted, Sapphire. You were so afraid of being promised to him that once he let you off the hook you anchored yourself to this idea that you owe him something. If you do really want this colt as your special somepony, then fight for him, but don't pretend that you're being held back by any pony other than yourself."

A few tears started to fall from Sapphire's eyes, vulnerable at times, but rarely in front of Summer. Immediately Summer took to hugging her once again, trying to console her.

"If he tries anything weird… I'll kill him, okay?"

Sapphire choked a laugh, clutching her friend tightly and feeling her heart begin to race.

"I'll tell him tomorrow…"

* * *

"Did you just invite yourself to my romantic night out with Summer by asking the Princess Sapphire to tag along?"

It was late evening, having finished our dinner, Sapphire and I parted ways in the halls on the way to our rooms for the night. Bleak had waited outside my Royal Chambers, as he normally would every other night for an updated schedule on where Summer would be. This time though I had given him the good news of how I was able to get Sapphire to stay an extra day. Bleak wasn't too thrilled about how I handled it.

"She said she wasn't going to stay! I had to think of something to keep her here!" I shouted in my defense.

Our conversation continued into my Royal Chambers, far from the earshot of any passing pony. My decor had upgraded a bit since Sapphire's tenure here. I now had a rather marble large desk off to the side of my room where the ruined Void Mirror used to reside. She added some specially made armchairs that were hoof crafted by the ice ponies of the north. Promising to be flame resistant for hours on end.

"You are the worst wingpony in all of Equestrian."

Bleak approached my desk. Pouring himself some of the experimental grape juice that Tiff Pitchstone had been working on. He claimed it would elevate a pony's mood and let go of our mental inhibitors, but dull our senses in the process. He nicknamed it the Juice.

I approached Bleak again. "I just asked her to be my date for the carnival, and—"

"So you asked her out on a date?" Bleak asked in surprise.

"It's not a date!"

Bleak took a swig of his drink. Seemingly unaffected by the promised effects it was supposed to have.

"You literally said it was a date though."

My face flushed. "Sapphire knows what I meant."

"Ha!"

I watched Bleak take another drink of his cup before pouring more. My mane was beginning to flare, embarrassed by how Bleak laughed at my predicament.

"Smolder, you have no idea what you're in for. You said it was a date. Sapphire accepted it. You're done. You can try to talk your way around it, she may even let you take it back, but it's on. Every minute you're with her at this festival she'll be judging you on everything and seeing if you're a worthy somepony."

"We're just friends! I'm going with her to the Winter Solstice in return! It's a… mutual agreement."

Bleak snorted. "Oh yeah, sure. Totally."

Before Bleak could take another drink of his cup I snatched it away. Slamming back down on the desk looking quite annoyed with him.

"Sapphire said that we could go alone!"

This time Bleak's attitude changed completely. The sudden realization that it wasn't going to be a double date seemed to erase all of his concerns.

"Oh… well that changes everything."

"So you and Summer can… can… do whatever it was you were planning to do."

Bleak's brow perked up. Looking rather surprised with me.

"You've... been around the ice block haven't you, Smolder?"

"Ice block?"

"You know, when you get to talking with a mare, and things start to get a bit more personal. You bring her home and…"

It was clear by the way my face burned that I knew what he was talking about, but it revealed that I had not been around the ice block. In a flash I snatched up the cup filled with juice and downed it in two gulps before clearing my throat.

"I'm not about to have this discussion with—wow…"

My entire body was overcome by a numbness that seemed to tickle my nose and stretched all the way down to my hooves. I felt strangely relaxed, although a bit hazy with my thoughts.

"Is this the first time you've had a drink like this?" Bleak asked.

"Flame ponies rarely drink." I confessed.

"Have another."

I held out my cup watching Bleak pour a generous amount in. He took a cup for himself, pouring some more while I took another drink.

"You know that I know what you're talking about, because I've been told what it is you're talking about by others who have talked about it." I stated.

"Hey, it's cool, Smolder. I mean, things haven't exactly been easy for you. Who's got time to date when their fighting monsters from another dimension?"

I took another drink feeling a buzzing sensation rush through me. "I had been so focused on getting the Elements of Harmony, that the Orc and the dragon just rushed into the picture and before I knew it I was in another dimension. I didn't even have time to think about… about…"

"Sapphire?"

I stared down at my nearly empty cup. Swirling it a bit. I saw the spout of the pitcher tip into my cup as Bleak poured me more.

"I thought about her a lot." I mumbled.

"She's a very pretty pony."

"I've also hurt her a lot. Doing things behind her back. Making her cry because of it. I am such a horrible pony to her."

Bleak hesitated to drink. Noticing that Smolder had stopped drinking as well.

"I… know the feeling." Bleak said. "But, that's what colts do."

"Try to do everything ourselves so hey don't have to worry?" I asked.

Bleak took a long drink. "No, we're just idiots."

I chuckled taking another drink. Bleak motioned towards the chair behind me, he himself walked around the desk to pull the desk chair out. We sat down, taking another drink before Bleak filled our glasses again.

"I hurt Summer plenty of times back in the day. Being a con artist has its ups and downs, but mostly downs. Especially when you're running from the guards and one of them happens to be your girlfriend." Bleak said.

"Did she ever catch you?" I asked.

Bleak grinned from behind his cup. "A couple of times. When I let her."

I took another drink. I thought about asking him something personal and the words found their way out easier than I thought. "Have you ever.. you know... kissed her?"

"Many, many, many, many times."

I held in a laugh, unsure why I found that amusing. Holding onto my cup with two hooves now, letting it tilt from side to side slowly. I closed my eyes, leaning back in my chair, feeling very relaxed.

Bleak tapped the side of his cup a few times trying to work up a question of his own. "You... ever kiss Sapphire?"

I hummed for almost a minute thinking about it. Then I nodded my head yes. Bleak seemed rather surprised by this admission.

"When?"

I smiled. Shaking my head back and forth in my refusal to reveal it.

"Do you love her?"

I opened my eyes slowly. Taking a deep breath and letting it go. Sipping my drink now I found myself not wanting to speak anymore.

"Sorry, that's a bit too personal." Bleak said.

Looking over at him, I watched Bleak shake the pitcher finding it empty of the juice and seemingly displeased at having gone through the whole thing so quickly.

"Do you love Summer?" I asked.

"Favorite season of the year." Bleak replied looking directly into the pitcher.

"No, not the season, I meant-"

"I do. She's the only pony I want to wake up to in the morning. The only pony who makes me feel like I can be a better pony. She's the only one who makes my cold heart feel like it's on fire. She's my special somepony."

I tried taking another drink, realizing my cup was already empty.

"You ever have a feeling like that, Smolder?" Bleak asked.

"I did, but she's a earth pony. Not a flame pony."

Bleak smirked. "Not a fan of red heads, huh?"

I lifted my hoof to look at fires raging just under the clear surface of my hooves.

"I can't… touch her."

"You've been practicing on internalizing you flames though, you still got a chance." Bleak insisted.

The truth of the matter was that with the incorporation of ice ponies and flames over these past several months, many flame ponies were learning how to internalize their fire to create just a cloud of smoke and allow for them to interact with normal ponies. It was the same technique used by the ice ponies to internalize their ice. Several had already achieved this feat which only spurred hundreds more to learn, but I hadn't made any progress since I started many months ago.

"I learned a long time ago that I'm... not like everypony else. I needed to become what every pony needed me to be. I've accepted that."

There was a long pause after that. Bleak was focused on the scars upon my arms and the intense fires that burned within my hooves.

"Why… did you put yourself through all of that anyways? What did you owe anypony?"

"No pony owed me anything. It's about doing what's right." I recited.

"What's right?" Bleak scoffed. "You could do a hundred thing right and all any pony will ever remember is what you did wrong. I mean look at your old pony. Everypony still refers to him as the Mad King."

I took a drink from my cup looking at Bleak. "Is that how everypony looks at you?"

For the first time I had seen Bleak become agitated, his mane billowing snowflakes at the implications of his colored past.

"I don't think Summer sees you that way. Just how I don't see my father as a mad pony anymore. It doesn't change what has happened, but I understand his reasons now."

Bleak shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "You don't know anything about me."

"I don't need to. Summer trusts you completely and that's good enough for me." I replied.

A look of surprise came across Bleak's face. "She said that to you?"

"Other than myself, you are the only pony Summer allows to be alone with Sapphire. That says a lot."

"Well… she's not my type." Bleak mumbled, flushing slightly.

I smiled resting my head back in the chair. Closing my eyes and feeling myself become very relaxed. I could hear Bleak tracing his hoof around the lip of his glass cup, a low ring coming from it.

"For a King, you're not all that… kingly." Bleak mumbled.

I opened my eyes halfway to look at him. Bleak clearing his throat to phrase his point better.

"What I mean is that you're more… down to earth. You don't have a superiority complex about you like lots of nobles tend to have." Bleak said.

"I didn't think I'd make a very good king either." I replied.

"Seriously?"

"Until somepony convinced me otherwise." I mumbled.

"Who was that?"

"A friend that believed I could make a difference in every ponies life, after having made such a difference in mine. I owed it to him to try and be the pony he believed me to be."

Bleak frowned a bit. "Isn't that asking a lot of somepony your age?"

"He only asked me to try, then to try again, and try as many times as need be. Because once you stop trying, you've given up, and he never gave up on me."

I saw that Bleak could only stare at me. Unsure of what to say.

"He… must have been some pony."

"He wasn't a pony. He was my friend… my mentor… my dad."

I looked down at my cup to see that it had become several. All of them swirling around and around in awkward circles.

"I'm kinda… getting tired…"

My eyes were beginning to close. I felt my head resting against the back of the chair and felt the cup slip from my hooves.

The cup was caught by Bleak, already on his hooves looking no worse for wear from his drinking. His tolerance was years in the making, although the juice wasn't all that strong to begin with. Returning the pitcher and cups, he looked back towards the resting Smolder having felt a bit guilty about how much he had given him to drink.

Taking the arm of Smolder, Bleak pulled it over his shoulder before picking him up off the chair.

"Come on, your majesty," Bleak groaned.

Smolder's hooves dragged against the ground. Bleak doing his best not to drop him. Reaching the granite, Bleak carefully let Smolder slide onto it before letting him drop all together.

There were no blankets or pillows to be had. Just a massive slab of granite. Bleak never liked sleeping on granite, although the times he had it was just for the night and he usually wasn't alone.

Bleak crossed the room stopping before touching the large brass handle on the door. Taking a look back at Smolder, having spent the better part of the evening drinking with him and speaking candidly with one another. He had to smile. Where at one time he had never even seen the King and Queen of the Frozen North, the King of the Ashen Fields had accepted him as a friend and even gone as far to do him a favor.

"Thank you, Smolder."


	3. Chapter 3: Sunday Best

The Carnival of Lights is the first public event hosted by the Ashen Fields that did not include some sort of royal inauguration or restoration effort. In fact, it was a chance to encourage tourism for the kingdom and many of the attractions were specifically designed to help demonstrate how unique flame pony culture could be.

Flame ponies have a unique affinity to being very skilled engineers, architects, and metallurgists. Many of the rides were built directly from the ground up, using the precious metals found right beneath their hooves.A roller coaster, spinning cups, a large saucer that spun you round and round, it was just a few of the many rides promising thrills and your lunch to make an appearance. It was all operated and powered by steam and it offered the same amount of thrills. The parts, technical design, and self methods to power it would marvel some and prove to be fun for others.

Many other booths were featuring exquisite and delicately crafted pieces of jewelry. Mined from the ruins of the Elder Dragon's treasure hoard deep in the mountain. While other booths offered an array of old flame pony confectionary that had been lost for decades. Yet, the games that were offered encompassed most of the carnival.

Some games revolved around hoof and eye coordination, simple ring tosses or crack shot aim at moving targets. Others offered a more cunning mind to play, from having a basic understanding of geology to win real gems or well crafted fakes to test one's mettle in both mind and body to win fabulous prizes.

Yet, there have been three large attractions that had generated a lot of press in the past few weeks. The first of which being the newly constructed outdoor amphitheater that had acquired the Manehattan Theatre Group to perform their newest play based on the newest Daring Do book. Near the end of the night there would be an incredible musical experience presented by DJ Pon-3 with the promise of an outstanding firework display to end out the night.

The second attraction on everypony's to do list was the hot air balloon rides. With a single flame pony being able to provide the fuel needed to keep a balloon aloft, there were dozens upon dozens of hot air balloons ready to take flight over the carnival and offer a breathtaking and up close view of the fireworks.

The third and most anticipated attraction that had every hotel, hospice, and B&B within the Ashen Fields booked solid two months after its announcement were the fabled hot springs of the flame ponies. An old flame pony legend spoke of hot springs near the base of the volcano that offered magical healing and rejuvenation properties. To which a massive undertaking was set forth to build a kind of resort near the ruins of the mountain, to offer these legendary waters to visiting ponies. Needless to say, many ponies who had booked their stay were already camping out a week prior to its grand opening wanting to be the first to try its waters.

Yet, there was one attraction that was on a specific group of pony to do lists. A quaint yet romantic walk through an old mining tunnel that held a massive amount of thermoluminescence stones that were breathtaking to behold and offered a small amount of privacy to young couples for a few precious minutes.

The turn out would possibly be three times the size of Lord Smolder's coronation and quite possibly be three times the fun. The carnival was set to start early that morning, promising to run for a whole week to ensure everypony from far and wide for a chance to participate. While most of the festivities would be going on, the most sought after attractions would not start until the evening, giving those with plans time to get ready.

I, myself, had woken up extra early this morning to ensure all of my duties were taken care of before preparing for my night out with Sapphire.

"This is how our dynasty ends… in utter embarrassment." Wick mourned.

"Really, Smolder, you have just the one cloak from your coronation to wear?" Pyre asked.

The Twins, Wick and Pyre Phoenix, my older brothers were standing in my royal chambers watching me frantically dig through empty drawer after drawer for clothes I did not have. I had forgotten to put in a request for actual clothing because my schedule was tight enough as it is, and I had just figured that somepony somewhere would just hand me things to wear for whatever occasion.

"Why do I have so many dressers with nothing in them?" I asked in disbelief.

Once again I found nothing as pulled out the bottom drawer of a dresser in my room.

"It speaks to that empty head of yours." Wick commented.

"We can take out an urgent edict to the clothing shop for some new clothes," Pyre offered.

"Stitch Rose Shay is going to be swamped with all these ponies coming in for the carnival. They won't have time." I replied hastily checking the same empty drawer again.

"When Lady Sapphire dumps you ten minutes into your date tonight, we will be by the spinning cups laughing at others misfortunes." Wick remarked.

Pyre ribbed Wick in the side, eyeing him for his insensitive remarks. It was clear the Smolder was not focused on the teasing he was receiving, but more fearful at the prospect of being looked down upon by Sapphire.

Even Wick was beginning to see that Smolder was desperately wanting this to go over well and it almost hurt him to see his brother struggling over something as trivial as a date with a mare.

"Perhaps… you could look through some of father's old clothing? I'm sure something may fit you." Wick offered.

I stopped hard from my searching, an intensely hopeful look coming across my face at the idea.

"Do… do we still have that kind of stuff?" I asked.

"I do recall Mr. Papyrus finding a crate of our father's clothing from when he was about our age. It was in a nearby room where he had found all the hats and paintings of father." Pyre added.

I leapt towards the both of them in a hurry. "Where is it?"

"I'll have the guards bring up in a few and see if we have anything viable to work with. If we're lucky, we'll just ask the ponies over at the shop to touch it up a bit to better fit you." Pyre stated.

"But first we need to talk." Wisp said firmly.

I looked puzzled. "About what?"

"How to conduct oneself around a mare of Sapphire's stature." Pyre replied.

My mane flared in embarrassment. "I-I already know…"

"Did you hear that, dear brother? Smolder already knows." Wick asked in fake surprise.

"Dear me, he must be an expert of the complicated nature of mare subtle hints and the double meanings of their answers." Pyre replied in equal false surprise.

"Double answers?" I asked nervously.

"If a mare says she's not hungry, she is most definitely hungry, but will only eat off of your plate so be sure to order enough for two." Pyre offered an example.

"Why doesn't she just order something for herself?" I asked.

My brothers just laughed at me.

"You should also remember that mares will always want you to make the first move, but they will know ten minutes in whether or not they want you to make one." Wick added calming down from his laugh.

"How am I supposed to know if she… if I'm supposed to…" I struggled to understand.

"If you do end up kissing her, make sure to keep your eyes closed and don't tense up." Pyre stated.

At this point my mane flared so hard that it fanned back both of my brother's flames from the force.

"Remember to hold her tight enough to where she feels protected, but not tight enough to feel trapped." Wick added.

"I'm-I'm not going to…" I mumbled feeling extremely embarrassed.

My brothers just raised a brow to me in curiosity, allowing me the chance to finish my sentence.

"... nevermind."

"Well we have another five hours before your incredibly awkward date with quite possibly the prettiest princess in all of Equestria. That's just enough time to make you a gentlecolt in the streets and a mad king in the—"

Pyre slapped a hoof over Wick's mouth watching me nearly drop into the Phoenix mode from how hot my face had become from Wick's insinuation.

"_Wick_ will go find that chest full of father's old clothing while I offer Smolder some delicate advice about this sensitive issue." Pyre reassured.

Removing his brother's hoof away from his mouth, Wick halfheartedly chuckled at the idea.

"Try not to confuse him with your flowery words, dear brother. Or we might just become uncles before the year is through."

Wick headed for the door, ignoring the severity of the heat I was now producing from my glaring embarrassment.

"Calm yourself, little brother. In his own sadistic way, Wick is merely offering you the taste of what many ponies will be insinuating through press and gossip about your current relationship with Lady Sapphire. Deep down he does want this night to go well for you. Just as I do." Pyre explained.

With my flames becoming a noticeable nervous flicker, I looked at Pyre suspiciously.

"You do?"

Pyre stepped forward placing a firm hoof on my shoulder with a smile.

"We may not have always been so direct with our feelings, Smolder, but we both want what's best for you. We want you to be happy."

I smiled nervously at him.

"How… how will I know if Sapphire… likes me?" I asked slowly.

Pyre did his best not to roll his eyes at me.

"What was it that Wingston always used to say to you? Talk, talk, and talk some more?" Pyre asked.

"Yeah, something like that."

"It's time to talk to Sapphire about how you feel. Talk as much as you need to and you'll know how she feels when you're done talking."

I swallowed hard. "And…what happens if… she...?"

Pyre gave me a one armed hug, resting his head against mine. "We'll be by the spinning cups."

* * *

"I'll just tell him I came down with the flu, food poisoning or something, that the hay cubes were rotten." Sapphire suggested.

Summer was quick to grasp Lady Sapphire by the face, pulling at her cheeks, and watching her groan in displeasure.

"_You're _making me sick just listening to you whine about this." Summer replied.

Letting go of her face, Sapphire quickly began to massage her cheeks looking very annoyed with Summer but watched as she withdrew a small cartridge of blush. The two mares were currently residing in Sapphire's guest room, to which she had been staying for the past several months. Most of her things had been packed for her trip home, but a few things left out for her date tonight."

Tensing herself up, doing her best to keep a straight face, Sapphire allowed Summer to apply some makeup for her. As much of a soldier as she was, Summer had a natural talent with applying makeup for mares. A talent she neither wanted nor cared for, but used it whenever asked.

"Do you think he's as nervous as I am?" Sapphire asked quietly.

"Petrified." Summer retorted.

"Seriously?"

"Colts," Summer began. "Are simple creatures. They all want one thing, they'll say and do anything to get it, and we make sure that they pay through the nose for us to even consider it."

Summer's words were humorous to her. Similar words have been shared with her by her mother several times prior. While it was easy to read the intentions of many noble colts, she found it hard to read Smolder.

"Do you like him?" Sapphire asked.

Summer reached back into her makeup bag. "Who?"

"Smolder."

Summer shrugged retrieving an eyelash curler. "Not particularly. He's really not my type."

"I meant as a potential suitor for me. You despised all the other ones that were brought before us." Sapphire explained.

"They," Summer paused to steady her hoof on Sapphire's eyelashes. "All saw you as a prize that needed to be won. Which is why I never let them be alone with you."

"And Smolder?"

Summer stepped back, tossing her eyelash curler back into the bag to see how her work was coming thus far.

"I've seen how he treats you, how he speaks to you. He's honest, considerate, and pretty harmless. I was more concerned that you'd be the one to make the first move on him." Summer confessed.

Sapphire looked shocked. "I beg your pardon."

Summer retrieved a lip liner from the bag, narrowing her eyes and lips to focus on doing Sapphire's with a steady hoof.

"Like I said before, you always fight for what you want, and I was sure you were going to beat a confession out of him sooner or later."

Unable to retort from having her lips being treated. Sapphire opted to glare annoyingly at her.

"If you're wondering if I would be okay with him being your special somepony, then I'd say it wasn't any of my business who you picked since I'm just your bodyguard." Summer continued.

After rummaging through the bag for some lipstick that she liked, Summer opened her mouth a bit to signal Sapphire to do the same.

"But as your friend, I think you two would make such a _sweet wittle couple._"

Sapphire had to laugh, nearly making Summer smear the lipstick. Summer laughed out of surprise, shoving Sapphire gently for startling her.

"Hold still or you're going to look like a clown!" Summer scolded her.

Sapphire had a hard time not smiling as she settled back down, but Summer was able to work around it.

"So… what would have happened if I didn't like him?" Summer asked.

With the lipstick applied, Sapphire presses her lips together softly, letting the makeup set for a moment.

"I wouldn't have him be my special somepony." Sapphire replied.

Summer seemed a little taken aback with her response.

"But you like him." Summer retorted.

"If my protector, my friend, did not feel comfortable with a colt I was interested in, I wouldn't associate with him."

Summer felt Sapphire take her hooves, gripping them tightly and smiling at her.

"You promised to protect me with your life and I've always taken that seriously. Which is why I wanted your blessing before tonight. Because you're..."

Sapphire paused for a moment, doing her best to summon up some courage to continue.

"You're like the sister… I always wanted."

Summer's fiery orange mane puffed into a cloud of white smoke, giving Sapphire a sudden jolt of surprise. A single tear rolled down the side of Summer's face, slowly sizzling on her still hot cheek. It was soon followed by dozens more as she nearly collapsed into Sapphire's arms.

"_Sapphire…_"

Summer's voice was weak from her crying, but it was filled with such love and affection that Sapphire could feel the weight of it.

"Thank you, for always being there for me."

* * *

I stood in front of a mirror, albeit a regular mirror this time, one incapable of speaking to disembodied voices from another dimension, and stared at the ensemble Wick had procured for me. There was something lost in translation about the contents of the box of clothing my father used to wear in his youth.

"It's… retro." Pyre remarked trying his best to put a positive spin on it.

"It's all we got." Wick corrected.

Upon my head was the Obsidian crown, around my mane was plume of black feathers that glistened in the light of my flames, the cloak looked more like a tapestry that bore swatches of several old allied houses and kingdoms. The suit underneath was bright red with nearly thirty buttons, tassels of gold, and belts galore. Upon my hooves I wore large black horse shoes that were two sizes too big.

"Rarity would have a heart attack if she saw this." I mumbled.

"It appears that father may have had to endure a great amount of… humility while wearing this I would imagine." Pyre stated.

"Well, that's it. You're salt licked." Wick shrugged.

I shook off the feather portion of the ensemble, pulling a long cord that unraveled the cloak tied to my neck. I started to turn to them, shaking off the horseshoes while attempting to unbuckle the belts from my coat.

"There has to be something else, anything else!" I insisted.

Wick held up his hooves, showing me that there was nothing left to be done. Pyre tapped his chin, before seemingly having an idea.

"Brother, be a dear and lend Smolder your hoodie." Pyre requested.

Wick let loose a hard laugh in disbelief. "Surely, you're joking?"

"Come, come, come now. Our little brother is desperate and your hoodie might just fit him." Pyre insisted.

"I had to put in a special order for that hoodie and—"

Wick cut himself short after looking towards me. Perhaps it was my pathetic looking face or maybe just him feeling sorry for me but he rolled his eyes and concede.

"I'll be right back." Wick mumbled.

Wick returned with an all black hoodie. It looked no different than an ordinary hoodie except that this one was fireproof. Wick was half a head taller than me, but the hoodie fit near perfect with it being only baggy at the cuffs, but it added to the casual look it was meant for.

Pyre beamed in approval, Wick seemed mostly annoyed that he had lost his hoodie.

"It definitely says Smolder, I think. Don't you agree, brother mine?" Pyre asked.

"If you get mustard or something on that hoodie, I… I can be held responsible for my actions, Smolder." Wick warned.

I was quick to laugh, but even quicker to hug him. From having zero confidence just moments ago, I was now feeling loads better from the feathery nightmare that was my second to last option.

Wick carefully patted me on the back. "Just… have fun tonight, Smolder."

* * *

"Do you think this is too formal?" Sapphire asked.

Sapphire was magically levitating a rather off white dress and then a sunny gold one. Both looked very ravishing, but Summer had to constantly remind her that this was a carnival.

"Are we entertaining a czar or something? You're eating cotton candy and playing games aimed at four year olds, remember?" Summer questioned.

Tossing the dresses over a chair, Sapphire quickly began rummaging through her wardrobe again. Summer rolled her eyes knowing that this wasn't going to end anytime soon.

"Perhaps a scarf?" Sapphire asked.

"Great idea! You might get cold later tonight!" Summer agreed sarcastically.

Sapphire narrowed her eyes at her. "You're not helping…"

"Alright then, let me pick."

Summer approached the wardrobe, digging through some of her clothing and magically tossing some very high end dresses over her shoulder as if they were old rags. Sapphire magically caught them, gently laying them out on her bed to ensure that they would not get wrinkled.

"Here, wear this."

Summer emerged with a shawl magically floating before her. It was a grayish white shawl, it offered simplistic elegance, but did not stand out as much as everything else did.

"That's it?" Sapphire questioned her choice.

"Carnival… it's a carnival… loud and sticky!" Summer reiterated.

Sapphire carefully took the shawl, looking it over and carefully wrapped it around her. She admired herself in the mirror, seeming at ease with it being her ensemble for the evening.

"How do I look?" Sapphire asked.

"Lovely, but deadly."

Chuckling to herself, Sapphire twirled in front of the mirror before stopping to really take a long hard look at what she was about to do.

"Why do I still feel so nervous?" Sapphire questioned her own feelings out loud.

She watched in the mirror as Summer strolled up alongside her, bumping her flank against hers with a smile.

"Because you're about to go out on a date with the colt you love."

* * *

The plan was to meet at the courtyard at around half past midday to allow us a chance to get all of our responsibilities out of the way before the evening. I left my chambers with Wick and Pyre in tow, amusing themselves with what foods to try and what rides to test, and attempting to distract me from my anxiety.

In the courtyard stood Lady Sapphire and Summer Hearth, patiently waiting for us to arrive.

"Uh oh, it appears Lady Sapphire has gone to great lengths to look her best for tonight." Wick pointed out.

Panic started to set in for me, not knowing if I had taken the easy way out and not tried hard enough to dress the best I could.

"Oh sweet Celestia, he's wearing a hoodie! That's one hay of a power move!" Summer hissed.

"Power what?" Sapphire questioned.

"He thinks that you think that he thinks this is just another regular day, but he knows that you know that this isn't. Which is why he's thinking he can get away with wearing a hoodie."

Sapphire simply stared at Summer, unable to pick up any notion of what she was trying to say.

Summer gripped Sapphire's arm tightly to whisper to her up close.

"He's going to try and _kiss _you!"

Sapphire's body nearly froze over with ice from sheer embarrassment over the idea of it, but forced it back down as they Phoenix brothers arrived.

"Hey… Sapphire." I mumbled awkwardly.

"Hi." Sapphire replied quietly.

It was exactly four seconds into their meeting and the awkward tension between them was already apparent to every pony. Pyre kicked the back of Smolder's leg, trying to signal him to say something else.

"It's… nice to see you… again." I said slowly.

Wick rolled his eyes into a hoof palm over my painful awkwardness, but surprisingly it brought Sapphire a huge smile.

"I've… I've been looking forward to this all day." Sapphire replied. "I'm hoping we can try some of the food vendors first."

"Me too!" I blurted out.

Sapphire beamed at me, carefully stepping to the side to let me walk beside her. I swallowed hard, trying to remain calm about it. Together we started off towards the carnival leaving the Twins and Summer behind.

"I do hope that they come to some sort of understanding by the end of the night." Pyre mentioned.

"Don't worry, they will." Summer reassured.

The Twins glanced at Summer, who in turn cleared her throat from nearly revealing privy information about what Lady Sapphire and her spoke of last night.

"Have a wonderful time at the carnival tonight, my Lords." Summer said with a bow.

"Are you not planning on joining in the festivities?" Pyre questioned.

"I have a previous engagement." Summer replied.


	4. Chapter 4: Carnival of Lights (Part 1)

"So tell me again, _why_ are we spying on them?"

The reformed con artist known as Bleak Weather moped behind a barrel of cider, he was a pegasi ice pony and was on a date with his special somepony.

"To ensure that Lady Sapphire and Lord Smolder are not mobbed or attacked by paparazzi ponies."

The appointed bodyguard of Princess Sapphire, Summer Hearth, was crouched down behind an adjacent cider barrel peeking out to spy on her princess.

"Aren't _we_ supposed to be having a date?" Bleak mentioned.

Summer looked over, her eyes narrowing at him with a small disappointed frown. "I _know_ what sort of date _you _had in mind."

Bleak smiled mischievously. "There's still time to go on our date and have one hay of a happy ending."

"If that's the case then we'll only need about a minute and a half." Summer snapped back.

Bleak's face turned a dark blue, his face screwed up in embarrassment and annoyance. "Oh, it's going to be like that, is it?"

Summer reached over, gripping the collar of his armor, before tugging hard to bring his face closer before kissing him. He was caught off guard by this, bracing himself against the barrel as he let his eyes roll back before savoring this moment.

Summer pulled away quickly, looking straight into his eyes. She had a way of making herself look extremely vulnerable, which had lured in potential bad guys before beating the hay out of them in the past. Although, she used it sparingly on Bleak whenever she wanted something from him.

"Help me make this a memorable night for Sapphire and you'll have a memorable night with me." Summer offered.

Bleak smirked. "This sort of reminds me of our first date."

"That wasn't a date, we took down a crime boss in the lower terrace of the Shattered Bluff." Summer recollected. "In exchange for your help you got off without having to go to prison."

"Which somehow ended up with both of us spending a night at—"

Summer's hoof gripped his face, mane flaring from her own embarrassment over that particular memory.

"I told you to _never_ bring that up again or else I'd rip your lips right off your face, didn't I?" Summer asked threateningly.

"But my face is my best feature." Bleak moaned.

Summer planted a quick kiss on the side of his cheek.

"Come on, Sapphire and Smolder are already on the move."

* * *

Most of the lights within the carnival were lanterns strewn about with different colored tinted glass to give off an array of colors. Loud shrieks and cries from the ponies riding the roller coaster off in the distance only enhanced the buzz of excitement many ponies seemed to have.

Sapphire and I were stopped a few times for pictures with passing ponies from out of the kingdom. It wasn't hard to spot us, although we didn't stand out as much as we would have if we were wearing our crowns and regal apparel. There were dozens and dozens of other ice ponies and flame ponies walking around the carnival, so it was just a matter of noticing Sapphire's cutie mark or the scars of my hooves to point us out.

These minor distractions were enough to calm my nerves, growing more relaxed around Sapphire again realizing that we weren't really doing anything too different than what we normally did.

With the last picture taken, giving a few waves goodbye, we were off again walking aimlessly through the carnival.

"I like your… ummm… blanket?" I guessed.

Sapphire laughed quietly to herself. "It's a shawl, but thank you."

Silence befell is again. I could feel the awkwardness slowly coming back.

"I'm… sorry if I'm over dressed for this occasion. I haven't actually been to a carnival before and I might have overdone it a bit with the makeup and—"

"I think you look great." I interrupted her.

Sapphire glanced at me. Her face turning a soft purple right before my eyes. I felt my own face beginning to burn up having been so blunt about it.

"You've… always been…" I could feel myself struggling to get the word out. "Beautiful."

There was a sudden spark of Sapphire's horn that popped at least twelve balloons in the booth next to us. This incidentally earned a small filly a large prize for managing to pop several balloons while having missed her initial throw with the dart.

We hastened ourselves away, both extremely embarrassed over what I had said. I was tensing with anxiety, feeling stupid for saying something so bluntly without having any of that tact Wick was talking about.

"Thank… you." Sapphire mumbled.

Looking over I saw Sapphire was flushed a deep purple, but she made no attempt to hide it. Her eyes darted from the ground towards me and back again.

"You're… jacket looks… comfy." Sapphire remarked.

I silently pleaded with my flames to stop flaring, not wanting to burn a hole straight through Wick's jacket.

"W-Wick let me borrow it." I replied.

Sapphire bit her bottom lip. Seemingly interested in the casual attire that the hoodie provided me and perhaps its versatile nature.

"I want one." Sapphire pouted.

"I could get one made for-"

"_Lord Smolder! Lady Sapphire!_"

Our names rang out through the air, a voice magnified several times louder by a megaphone. Several foals and fillies were standing around a large placard, dressed in rather well put together costumes and Lionel Stonehardt waved his megaphone wildly for us to approach.

"Hey," I said strolling up to the lot.

"Are you coming to see our play?" Lionel asked excitedly.

I looked over at Sapphire unsure. "Play? What play?"

"I heard that Mr. Tutor's class had put together a play before the Manehattan Theater is to go on." Sapphire remarked.

I had never been to a play before. Even if it was a children's play, I had read several stories that I had always wanted to see performed live.

"Are they going to be performing 'Call of the Pony'? I've always wanted to see that." I replied.

Lionel smiled wide, as the rest of the children pointed towards the placard for us to read. Sapphire and I moved to read the sign. In large letters the sign read 'Phoenix: The Tale of Smolder', starring Lionel Stoneheardt as Smolder and Mr. Tutor as the Mad King.

I stood flabbergasted at what was posted. Sapphire did her best not to look embarrassed for me, but also trying hard not to smile at my predicament at the same time.

"You'll be coming, right? We've been preparing for this for weeks!" Lionel stated proudly.

I was still staring at the sign with a look of disbelief when Sapphire jabbed me in the side to stop making a big deal out of it.

"Of course we'll be attending your play." Sapphire reassured him.

"Tickets are five bits per pony. Ten bits if you want seating in the front." Lionel stated with his hoof out.

Sapphire glanced over at me with a coy smile, to which Lionel moved his hoof to me for the bits instead. I narrowed my eyes at Sapphire before reaching in my hoodie for the money.

Lionel pointed us towards the outdoor amphitheater near the other end of the carnival. We were also told that the tickets were selling out fast and that we should get there as soon as we could to get the best seats in the house. Sapphire and I set off to get some decent seating, not wanting to disappoint the children and noticed several posters strewn up for the Manehattan Theater's play of Call of the Pony.

The closer we got to the amphitheater the more we began to notice that the children had made their own posters to put up over the Manehattan Theater's ones. Reaching the entrance, we noticed several ponies just strolling in without approaching the ticket counter. In fact, there was no pony in the booth to sell tickets.

"Did all these ponies buy their tickets in advance?" I asked curiously.

"Tickets? What tickets?" A voice asked aloud.

We turned to see Mr. Tutor approaching us, carrying several saddle bags on his back filled with craft material for the play. He seemed visibly tired, perhaps from all the preparations for the play and dealing with the children, but he seemed to be in good spirits.

"Lionel sold us tickets." Sapphire stated.

Mr. Tutor hoofed faced himself. Mumbling something under his breath before looking quite apologetic.

"The play is open to the public and free of admission. I'm afraid Lionel has swindled you out of some bits." Mr. Tutor said.

Sapphire looked down at out tickets, seeing that it was written rather poorly with charcoal, but it did have a no refund clause on the back.

"How much did he take you for?"

"Smolder gave him twenty bits." Sapphire replied.

I pulled my hoodie over my face trying to hide the flaring of my mane from how embarrassed I was.

* * *

With a few ponies trickling into the theater, Bleak and Summer were peering around the corner of the amphitheater eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Now that's a pony after my own heart. Swindling coin from a King and Princess." Bleak murmured with pride.

Summer elbowed him in the side. "If I find out you taught that little colt how to con ponies of their money…"

Bleak was quick to hold up his hooves to show his innocence. "I'm clean!"

* * *

There was plenty of seating near the front, not too many ponies had come to see this school play, but ponies continued to file in little by little. A small slate was left on every chair, small program to offer the audience an idea of what to expect.

Mr. Tutor's class had put a lot of effort into the 'adapting' parts of A.K. Yearlings book for their play. Picking the most eventful chapters and bringing it to life on stage. This adaptation was done entirely by the children, acted by mostly children, and the entire set was designed by children. Mr. Tutor had been cast by the children to represent the Mad King, mostly for his adult size bringing a more realistic view of how vastly different my father and I were.

I sat prepared for the play to start, not knowing what to expect or how far they would go with it, but I tried to be optimistic like Sapphire and hoped for the best.

"Now that the love from my mommy has filled me, I possess the power to defeat you, father!"

Lionel Stoneheardt hollered. He was portraying me up on the stage while we could hear Mr. Tutor hissing under his breath to stick to the script, desperately trying to keep the play on the rails.

"You shall never defeat me… twerp!"

From his awkwardness on stage it was clear that Mr. Tutor was not an actor pony at heart, but the children's enthusiasm over the play really sold the energy of each scene. Lionel had almost completely lost himself in the roll of Smolder and was taking real swings at Mr. Tutor. This caused the audience to cheer harder at the sight of Mr. Tutor doing his best to stay in character and yet avoid Lionel's onslaught.

Nearly everypony was in a fit of laughter, even Sapphire was unable to contain her enjoyment of it, and I found myself sinking deep into my chair.

When the play had started it had only drawn in a quarter of the available seating, but the news spread fast of the most comical retelling of my past that it soon became a packed house. Even the Manehattan Theater were watching from the sidelines, cheering and laughing over the performance.

The play raced along, having a quick narration of events leading up to the battle with the Orc. A rather impressive stone carving of the Elder Dragon's head, vastly smaller to its actual size, but was used with great effect.

In a very polar opposite portrayal, along with the lack of ice pony children available, Licorice had taken up the mantle of playing Princess Sapphire. Who acted the hay out of her part, providing a very vivid re-enactment of Sapphire's intelligence and elegance. So much so that Sapphire herself got to her hooves at points to cheer and applaud her. Lionel on the other hoof was still taking great liberties with my roll and even dropped kicked the large sculpted Elder Dragon statue.

It all came to a rousing conclusion with the battle between the dark spirit of Nadir and myself. What was truly remarkable was that the children had somehow convinced Mira to portray the dark entity of Nadir. Her Shadow Magic proved to be unmatched in special effects as it harmlessly swept through the auditorium but visually sold the gravity of the situation.

I watched Lionel struggle against the howling black mist Mira was spraying his way. Watching Mr. Tutor heroically jump in as my father to protect Lionel.

It was quite interesting to relive this particular moment as a bystander. Realizing that this entire scene had few to no words from my father or myself, just Mira taunting them as Nadir had done to me and my father. It made me realize that those final words my father had said to me, were truly just for me, and I felt myself holding back some feelings I thought I had buried away.

Mr. Tutor had come to the end of his portrayal of my father, having destroyed himself in a rather heart wrenching scene, at least for me, by flaring his mane fiercely before quickly falling through a trapdoor.

"And so, the Mad King had given his life to save his son from the evil that had tried to take him. "

The line hit me hard. I looked down at my hooves, staring at the cracks within my hide, hidden just underneath the sleeves of my hoodie.

The play had finally come to an end. Applause filled the auditorium. I was still staring at my hooves, thinking back on those final moments with my father when I saw Sapphire's hoof come into view and took hold of my hoof.

I turned to look at her and found her smiling sympathetically for me. She squeezed my hoof tightly for a moment before removing her hoof to join in on the clapping.

I quickly joined in as well, watching Mr. Tutor and his class take a bow. Black flames fizzled through the air, revealing Mira's signature blue star dust like hair and neon green markings on her arms. She took a dramatic bow, obviously enjoying the attention she was being given from her part in the play.

Mr. Tutor walked up to the microphone stand to address the auditorium just as the applause was beginning to die down.

"On behalf of the Phoenix School House, I would like to thank every pony for coming out and supporting this play. The children spent many weeks preparing for it and gave it everything they had to make it memorable." Mr. Tutor announced.

More clapping soon followed.

"I had given the class the opportunity to pick any story that they wanted to bring to the stage and it was a unanimous vote for the newest A.K. Yearling book. Go figure." Mr. Tutor continued.

There was mild laughter from the crowd.

"The reason the students chose to adapt this play was to show how much they—"

Mr. Tutor was cut off as Lionel jumped up to snatch the microphone away.

"Lord Smolder!" Lionel shouted.

A random spotlight lit both Sapphire and myself up in our seats. Drawing the attention of everypony in the auditorium. The entire class quickly rushed towards Lionel, fighting for room near the microphone.

"Thank you!"

I felt my mane flare. All the children smiled and waved to me while the rest of the ponies in the auditorium cheered and clapped in my honor. That's when Sapphire nudged my side, staring at me earnestly to stand up.

I got to my hooves, turning to the auditorium to wave for a minute to everypony. Earning an even louder applause with dozens of more cheers.

"The Manehattan Theater will be setting up shortly. Please come back later to see their incredible performance." Mr. Tutor announced.

That was the cue for everypony to start heading towards the exits. The children rushed to tear down their decorations, eager to take part in the festivities while Mr. Tutor warned them that they had to put on another show tomorrow night.

Sapphire and I were stopped a few times leaving the auditorium for pictures and autographs from more ponies. After the last rock slate was signed, Sapphire and I were by ourselves again.

"I found that play to be _very_ enjoyable." Sapphire remarked.

"It was… humbling." I replied.

Sapphire smiled at me. "It's not easy to see one's own life turned into a stage drama, especially done by children, but it's clear that they have a greater understanding and respect of what you've done for them."

"It really isn't all that- I can't really—"

Sapphire touched my hoof again. "They've recognized all the pain and suffering you've went through to be the King they needed you to be. You've given them a future, one brighter than any pony could have possibly imagined. Let them express their thanks anyway that they can, because it is all they can offer you after losing so much."

I slowed my pace. Still clutching Sapphire's hoof. She had an incredible way of putting things in perspective for me and making me feel like I really was this amazing pony everypony painted me to be.

"I… still have you." I mumbled.

Sapphire's mane almost cracked with thunder from how fast her face flushed. Taken completely off guard by my off the hoof remark.

I felt that this was my moment. The quintessential kiss Wick and Pyre had told me about. That I needed to take a chance, be the first to take the initiative, and bet it all on luck that Sapphire felt the same way. Or I'd be eating dirt from how fast Sapphire would knock my flank to the ground.

Holding her hoof I nervously pulled her towards me. She wasn't resisting at all. Taking a small step towards me, not turning away, but her eyes were almost daring me to try what I was planning.

"Sapphire—"

A metal staff wrapped me upside the head. Mira floated by with her arms now crossed and the staff resting against her shoulder.

"What are you _doing _you stupid flame pony?" Mira hissed.

Her glare was mixed with disgust and disappointment for me. I held the side of my head, notching how much harder Mira seemed to hit me with it than it's previous owner.

"Mira!" Sapphire snapped heatedly.

"Did you enjoy the show, Prissy Princess? I don't do autographs, but you can tell ponies I talked to you if you like." Mira commented.

Mira flipped her stardust like hair as if she really was this highly paid Applewood actress speaking to commoners.

Sapphire's mane turned stormy while Mira's shadow magic crackled from her hands daring her to go toe to hoof with her.

"I'm on a date with Sapphire." I interrupted.

I quickly got between them, defusing the situation almost instantly as Sapphire seemed very pleased with my admission to it being an actual date, but more so that Mira seemed appalled by it.

"A date? With her? So… what? You couldn't get a date with a block of ice so you picked someone equally as cold and unfeeling?"

This time I had to hold Sapphire back from getting close to Mira.

"I'm happy to see that you were willing to help out the children with their play." I mentioned quickly.

"Those stupid little rugrats begged me to do it." Mira muttered waving her hand dismissively.

It was no secret to me that Mira absolutely loved the children. At first the children were scared around her, her constant scowl and piercing yellow eyes made her seem intimidating. Although, a different side of Mira seemed to show itself around them. One of pure happiness and love for the children that had once been Mira's dominant trait.

I smiled at her. "Thank you for always looking after them."

Mira grimaced. Folding her arms in a huff and turning her head away in defiance.

She glanced back over her shoulder, looking a bit annoyed with us. "Go on then, have your date."

Sapphire was ready to say something to her when there was a literal stampede of young foals and fillies racing out of the auditorium and circling around Mira.

"Mira! Mira! Everypony liked our play! Now you have to treat us to candy apples! Just like you promised!" Lionel called out to her.

Sapphire and I watched Mira drift down to the herd of children, patting several of them on the head and beaming at them proudly for their hard work.

"First one there gets two!" Mira declared.

Without another word the children stormed off, leaving Mira smiling devilishly at the commotion the children were causing by charging through the carnival.

Mira turned to us. Her smile quickly fading, but turning her nose up at us in distaste.

"I've got some candy apples to buy. Try to keep it in your saddle bag, stupid." Mira said snidely.

"Perhaps you're green glow is from jealousy and envy you have!" Sapphire shouted back.

Mira turned around, cupping her hands over her mouth to shout back to us. "I guess the king just likes mares with big flanks!"

This had several ponies nearby turning to look at us. There were a couple of gossiping whispers and a few colts whistling loudly towards us. Sapphire and I both felt our faces burn hot from the attention and the implications as we both hurried off before anypony could get a picture of our embarrassment.

* * *

Bleak had his hooves full holding Summer back from coming to Sapphire's aid in her exchange with Mira.

"How dare she speak so ill of the princess! That evil little imp will pay for bad mouthing her!" Summer spat.

"That evil little imp is Lord Smolder's personal magic teacher and the Royal Adviser." Bleak stated.

"So what?"

"I don't want to be thrown into another dimension or be put on double duty just because you tried to murder a council member." Bleak replied.

Summer stopped her struggling. There was still an air of anger floating around her but the thought of causing trouble for Bleak had gotten her to hold back.

"Fine." Summer sounded miffed.

"We haven't wrestled that hard since that time we got locked in the old broom closet back in-"

The tip of Summer's sword was pressing against the bottom of Bleak's chin. A wild look in her eye daring him to speak another word. Pursing his lips, Bleak gave her a quick wink to which Summer flushed at.

"Come on… we don't want to fall too far behind." Summer mumbled.

* * *

"That evil little imp! She is so horrid to me! Always calling me hussy! Making fun of me! I swear the next time I see her I'm going to freeze her solid and throw her into the Frozen Sea!" Sapphire declared.

She was still pretty hot under the collar from what Mira had said. I decided to give Sapphire some space to let her talk things out and blow off some steam. Although, I ended up letting her walk ahead a bit and noticed that there was some truth to what Mira had said.

"Smolder?" Sapphire asked.

"Hey! Whoa! What's up?" I replied quickly.

Sapphire had stopped in front of a cotton candy booth while I had spaced out.

"I asked if you would like to try some of this cloud like substance?" Sapphire reiterated to me.

"Sure!" I said quickly.

Sapphire dropped two bits on the counter, being given two cotton candy in return. She turned to me to offer me one.

"Flank you." I muttered.

"What?"

"Thank! I said thank! Ha! Of course I did! Yum!" I shouted.

My face was a bright red, burying it in the cotton candy to hide it to avoid the suspicious stare I was getting from Sapphire.

"Are you alright?" Sapphire questioned.

"Just-just enjoying our time together." I muttered.

Sapphire smiled wide. Taking a lick of her cotton candy seemingly enjoying our time together as well. We walked off together admiring all the games that littered the carnival.

For a flame pony carnival is reminiscent of a regular carnival, but with much harder games to win. Flame ponies are naturally more resilient, their hide is tough like stone, and their strength vastly exceeds normal ponies. So many of their games involved things to do with rocks, metal, and of course fire.

Looking around I could see many flame ponies having adapted to suppressing their flames. Allowing them to produce harmless clouds of smoke or steam that provided a warmth to the touch rather than a burn. Which allowed many regular games to be added to allow for a more diverse experience for every pony to enjoy.

"Have you had any luck in suppressing your flames yesterday, Smolder?" Sapphire asked.

"No…"

My voice was weighted and full of bitterness. Ever since returning from the Realm of Naught I had been spending most of my free time trying to achieve this feat, but failed to even produce a wisp of smoke.

"Hasn't Tea been able to… help you?" Sapphire asked slowly.

Keeping my promise, I offered myself to be part of Tea's research in Alicorn medicine. Over the last few months I have taken a few trips to Manehattan to allow her to run any sort of tests she wanted on me. Unfortunately, my last visit wasn't a happy one.

"Do you want to play a game?" I asked.

I avoided her question completely, as I had done many times before whenever Sapphire brought up Tea in our conversation. Sapphire looked rather concerned, noticing this consistent pattern, but never pressed the issue.

"Sure!" Sapphire said cheerfully.

"Is there any you wanted to try?" I asked.

Dozens of foals and fillies had been practically stampeding there way around the gaming booths. Attempting to win the numerous amount of prizes available. One filly in particular was adorned with a rather shiny bracelet that sparkled like starlight from her flames. This of course brought up the question of which game she played to win such a trinket by the other children.

"It was the Geode Guess booth." The young filly had said.

Sapphire and I stepped aside to allow the sudden wave of ponies rush towards that particular booth to try their hoof at winning one.

"Perhaps we should try our hoof at this Geode Guess game. It seems like a good place to start." Sapphire suggested.

I could tell that Sapphire really wanted to win one of those bracelets for herself. So I nodded my head in agreement and headed towards this booth.

Dozens of foals and fillies were crowding around a particular booth where the carnival barker of this game enticed the children to give it a shot.

"Everypony likes to break things! Except you always get in trouble for it when you do! Well here's a game where you can only be a winner if you know _what_ to break! Step right up and try your luck and best of all it's only a buck!"

We could clearly see over all the children's heads of what the game in question entailed. There were hundreds upon hundreds of different colored and shaped rocks that were piled high in the booth. Dozens of prizes hung high over head, tantalizing the children below of the promise of gifts if lucky enough to win.

A few foals stepped up quick, tossing their coin upon the table. Picking out the rocks they chose to break. Once the rocks had been retrieved the children hit the rock hard with their hoof. This particular game was catered towards flame ponies more than regular ponies for our affinity to rocks and how well we could break them.

Some rocks were obliterated out right, one broke into several pieces of black glass, and one split in two revealing a core with several bright blue crystals.

"Volcanic glass! Earns you a candy apple! Blue crystals! That's a big winner, choose a large prize from anything up above!"

"I'll take the boulder with the snake for a face!" The foal declared.

"That there is an elephant! Good on you for knowing your rocks!"

The foal took his prize. A rather impressively sized elephant plush that was not only fireproof, but also made a noise like an elephant when held tightly.

There were cheers and excited shouts as many of the other children wanted a turn. I watched as Sapphire chuckled to herself in quiet determination.

"What a simple game, even children can win big at this." Sapphire reported.

"Would you like to try?" I asked her.

"Perhaps only once, I would feel bad if I didn't leave any prizes for the children." Sapphire said confidently.

The carnival barker noticed the rather pretty pony approaching the booth. Sliding down to the other end to greet her, he smiled wide with a raised brow.

"Would the lovely lady like a turn? First rock is free." The barker offered.

Sapphire smiled slyly at the pony. "Now why would it be free for me?"

"Because you might be free later for some coffee." The barker jived.

This got Sapphire to giggle, although my sudden appearance seemed to crush the carnival barkers morale.

"Lord… Lord Smolder, I hadn't realized it was the Princess and…"

He sounded apologetic, but Sapphire quickly dismissed his fears of being too forward. Thanking him for his interest and apologized herself for being unavailable.

"I will be choosing that particular rock right there." Sapphire stated.

"Uh, Sapphire—" I began.

Sapphire shushed me. "Don't cheat, Smolder. This is a game of geology and I passed that class with high marks."

The carnival barker placed her rock down on the table, I could see that he was apprehensive about her choice just as I had been. Without much warning, Sapphire chopped the rock watching it explode beneath her hoof to dirt and dust.

"That was a dirt clod." I pointed out.

The children still remaining giggled at Sapphire's unfortunate choice in rock which only made her flush with embarrassment. A coin hit the table in her response to attempt the feat again pointing to another rock.

"Sapphire—" I started again.

"You will have your turn, Smolder. After I have _mine._" Sapphire said competitively.

With another rock on the table, Sapphire was quick to break this one and found it to be a literal rock with no amazing features.

"A dud." The carnival barker pointed out.

A sudden ring of five coins showered the table as Sapphire was quick to pick five more rocks to smash. The carnival barker looked a bit concerned at Sapphire's determination as I tried to reel her back in.

"If I could just—"

"I can smash these rocks on my own, thank you." Sapphire stated quickly.

"Well it's not about how hard you hit it, but which one you hit to make it break—"

I watched Sapphire strike rock after rock, pulverizing and shattering the five before her in haste. Each rock was a dud or something that only resembled a lump of dirt. Sapphire threw what seemed to be twenty coins worth of tries onto the table as she started to just reach for rocks on her own. After several minutes of smashing rock after rock, Sapphire grew tired from her determination to win this game. Her inability to find a quartz stone had her heated and looking rather peeved at her losses. Having nearly spent all her coin in her feverish frenzy of rock smashing.

The owner of the game carefully pulled Sapphire's pile of coins away from her. Looking rather sympathetic over her failure.

I dropped a coin on the counter before leaning over the table to pick up a rock. I struck the top of the rock and watched it split open like an egg, revealing a core of immense red crystals that shimmered from the lights around us.

"Red crystals! We have a winner!"

Sapphire turned her head in a huff, pouting over the ease of my victory. My reward turned out to be the crystal bracelet Sapphire had tried so hard to win. I technically needed to have found the purple stone to claim such a prize, but a subtle wink from the owner made me realize he's seen this sort of thing play out before.

I turned to the still frustrated Sapphire. "Here."

I offered Sapphire the bracelet. She turned to look at it, her face just flushed now if not a bit embarrassed over the whole thing.

Sapphire took it slowly, fixing it over her hoof to admire it. "Thank you."

It didn't feel right giving Sapphire something so cheap. The crystal themselves were practically worthless. It was a children's game that offered shiny prizes for foals and fillies, but the smile Sapphire wore made it feel as though I had given her a priceless heirloom.

"Do… you want to try another game?" I asked.

Sapphire thought for a moment, as if to contemplate the question, but it was clear that she was simply deciding which booth to try next. I felt her take a firm grip of my hoof before pulling me down the path towards another game. There was excitement in her eyes, a smile that didn't go away, and I knew that she was having a time. I found myself smiling, realizing that I was having a great time as well.


	5. Chapter 5: Carnival of Lights (Part 2)

Wick and Pyre stood near the spinning cups carnival ride watching ponies twirl round and round. Finding great amusement in the ones that got dizzy and had fits of laughter at the ones unable to keep their lunch down. The two brothers seemed perfectly content standing off to the side of the ride, ignoring the looks from many ponies that walked by.

Integrating back into the day to day affairs of the kingdom was not an easy task for them. While not completely loathed as their father had been, the Twins were merely shunned by most ponies for the part they played in the years following the Mad King's return.

Smolder's efforts to paint them in a different light had stirred few ponies into offering them a second chance, but most had opted for intense glares and whispers. Such things had already been considered by the brothers, they had no illusions that their return would be met as favorably as Smolder's was, but it did not make their lives any easier.

Ignored by most. Despised by many. The Twins offered their services to the kingdom from behind closed doors, becoming delegates on behalf of the kingdom, a task Burning Sand once held and stood far from the social spotlight that engulfed Smolder.

Goldie Fleece, the Treasurer of the Ashen Fields, and Ray Horizon, the General of the Flame Pony army, would routinely approach the Twins with issues and requests that fell below the King's need to address. While many requests were approved and issues quickly resolved it was surprising to most that the Twins were found to be quite knowledgeable on both a financial and a military level.

It was apparent that their time spent speaking with their father through the mirror was not all malice and schemes. In fact it opened up many doors for delegates around Equestria to invite the Twins to their provinces to seek joint ventures and possible inclusions of flame pony marketing.

Although, this did little to sway the opinion of the common flame pony. The Twins helped the populace from the shadows but chose not to make it public knowledge. They had agreed that any publicity, even if given a positive image for them, would be met with negativity and doubt.

Yet here, next to the spinning cups, the Twins found a common ground where those that whispered behind their backs would also be subjugated to their own ridicule of their lost lunch.

"Do you think Smolder and Princess Sapphire are having a good time?" Wick questioned.

"It has been a few hours since their departure… I would assume that things are going well." Pyre replied.

The twirl of the cups raced round and round in interlocking circles. The screams of enjoyment from the ponies filled them again as a splatter of projectile sick whipped across the air.

Wick chuckled at the sight of the young ponies attempting to cover their mouths from spewing even more. "Have you told Smolder of our decision yet?"

Pyre looked over. "Of our journey to Saddle Arabia?"

Wick nodded to him. Pyre shook his head no.

"We will be gone for several months, brother mine. You know how Smolder dislikes our week long departures to the Crystal Kingdom." Wick mentioned.

Pyre offered him a smile. "We leave in two days, but there will be plenty of time to let Smolder know after tonight. I wanted him to be free of any worry or dread while on his first date."

Wick and Pyre watched the small herd of ponies stumble dizzyingly off the ride. One pony could not hold back and found themselves becoming sick in the grass nearby. The Twins applauded the group, watching them weakly wave back.

"Smolder will be alone again." Wick warned. "He will only have the imp to console him."

"We're no longer separated by dimensions. Smolder may not like us being so far from home, but he has endured worse with not knowing if we would ever return." Pyre replied.

There were a few ponies waiting in line staring at the Twins, their voices in hushed whispers. From the corner of his eye, Pyre glanced at them and found many of them recoiling in surprise as if they could hear everything they were saying.

"Don't let it get to you, brother." Wick said.

Pyre returned his attention to the twirling cups. "It doesn't…"

* * *

Summer sat at a table of an outdoor cafe, serving some of the Ashen Field's newest brew of coffee. Her mission to ensure a paparazzi free night seemed to be a huge success on its own as her need to intervene never arose. She was already beginning to think that this was just a big waste of time as the photos that were taken were from civilian ponies that had asked prior before taking them.

A small saucer and teacup clinked before her. Bleak sitting beside her with a cup of his own. Summer looked at the dark color of it, unsure of how it would taste.

"Two cream. Two sugar. Just a hint of mint." Bleak said.

Summer took the teacup and tasted the drink. The warmth was welcomed, even for a flame pony, but the taste was surprisingly delicious to her.

"This isn't bad." Summer mentioned.

"Closest thing I get to a warm feeling these days." Bleak stated.

Tipping his cup back, Bleak seemed to be more accustomed to the drink. His comment wasn't meant to be a veiled stab at their lack of time together, but Summer took it as such. Although, it was in no small part to her insistence of being by Sapphire's side even when she wasn't technically needed.

"I'm… kind of hungry." Summer mumbled.

Putting his cup down and stretching his hooves high over his head, Bleak scanned the crowd for Sapphire and Smolder.

"Hopefully they'll stop for food soon, but seeing as they've been devouring sweets all night—"

"There's a booth back aways that was selling some deep fried apples and stuff. I… wanted to try some of that." Summer interrupted.

Bleak looked over noticing that Summer was uncharacteristically fidgeting in her seat. Her attention was no longer on Sapphire, nor did she seem interested in following them anymore.

A deep blue flush came across Bleak's face realizing that he was now officially on a date with his special somepony.

"S-S-Sure!" Bleak squeaked.

Summer glanced over at him, noticing that he figured out that she had abandoned her plan to follow the royal couple any further tonight and wanted to pursue something else with Bleak.

"I can try to win you one of those bracelets if you like." Bleak offered.

Summer smiled wide at the suggestion. "Why would I want some sparkly bracelet?"

"Because… I can't afford to buy you the real thing… yet." Bleak confessed.

The mixture of shame and embarrassment flashed across Bleak's face. His new leaf didn't allow for any sort of back alley deals or acquisitions of high end things anymore. He was on a budget and it didn't allow for high end jewelry he knew Summer deserved.

"I don't want jewelry," Summer began.

Bleak quickly tried to recover. "I wasn't trying to—"

"I just want you."

A flush of orange spread across Summer's face. Fighting all of her feelings to look the other way and forced herself to look at Bleak. His look was that of the one that had stolen her heart many years ago, a genuine look of disbelief on his face that any pony could care for him.

Summer leaned closer to the speechless Bleak, her shoulder up against his. Her head tilted back as she raised her head up to meet her lips with his. She felt his hoof take hold of her arm, pulling her just a bit closer to ensure she would not pull away too soon.

The two soon parted. Slowly testing the waters with a series of short but loving kisses. Bleak couldn't help but smile wide causing Summer to smile as well.

"I want to try the deep fried cupcakes." Bleak mumbled.

"We better hurry then," Summer replied.

Bleak looked towards the sky, judging the position of the moon, realizing how early into the evening it was. "The carnival doesn't close for another-"

Summer got to her hooves. A small smile on her face. There was a subtle way in which she walked that had Bleak's heart set a flame. Nearly leaping from the table to take after her, he stopped short, digging into his pockets for a few bits to leave as a tip.

"We should drink coffee more often." Bleak muttered to himself before taking off after his special somepony.

* * *

Sapphire and I stood at a directory we had found somewhere near the outer edge of the area. We had discovered that we had just left the Game Zone. We had worked our way through several booths, trying our hooves at game after game, winning little trinkets and a couple stuffed animals. We couldn't find any reason to keep most of the prizes we had won, as we agreed that we were far too old for toys, and offered it to any foal or filly that happened to be standing nearby.

"It appears that the carnival is much more vast than I had previously anticipated. A week long affair would be necessary for any pony wishing to see everything it has to offer." Sapphire remarked.

I lifted my hoof to the directory, waving it in small circles over the arrow that signified our current location. "We've got two options,"

Moving my hoof to the right I hovered over zone marked Showcase and then leaned it to the right to where it read Food Plaza.

"We can see what the Showcase Zone is or get something to eat in the plaza."

There were several other zones listed upon the directory, but these two were adjacent to our current location.

"I'm interested in seeing what the Showcase Zone is, but if you're hungry we can get something to eat." Sapphire replied.

"I'm still full from all the candy we won from the games." I confessed.

"Showcase it is then."

In contrast to the hustle and bustle of the gaming area of the carnival, there seemed to be ten times as many ponies within the Showcase zone. It was reminiscent of the Next Big Thing held in Canterlot nearly a year ago, but this area seemed to accommodate countless stages where every presenter offered different products, ideas, merchandise, occupations, and even live events. Each one attempting to draw in as many onlookers as possible to promote their ideas or wares in hopes to reach a wider audience.

We walked by motorized carriages, art exhibits, musical performances, we saw dozens of Magical Academies looking for gifted unicorns to enroll in, several Military Recrutement tables seeking brave young ponies to enlist, and countless booths that served the common pony trying to make a name for themselves through their passions. Sapphire and I found these to be the most interesting.

"Smolder! Look!" Sapphire squealed in excitement.

Sapphire nearly bolted away, rushing to a tablet that had several rocks multi colored rocks strewn about. A lone unicorn mare sat behind the table, covered in an assortment of her own homemade jewelry of these rocks looking quite pleased at Sapphire's excitement over them.

"I see you're a purveyor of the Arcane Stones." The mare remarked.

I wandered up to Sapphire fawning over the glowing rocks. "The what?"

"Arcane stones, or magical rocks, are naturally occurring magic within nature that sometimes imbues itself within certain stones for unknown reasons. Each stone carries its own unique power and is extremely rare." Sapphire clarified.

I looked around the table at the rather large collection this one mare had. "But… she has so many."

"I made these," The mare spoke up. "Have a look."

The mare offered me a small lime green stone that slowly pulsed with magic. I took it from her, watching a small ghostly fish leap from the stone and disappear back into it.

"Do they all do that?" I asked looking pleasantly surprised.

"I have tried to imbue each stone with its own unique character, these stones are meant to be personal and for the wearer to enjoy." The mare informed me.

"Back home we have a few stones that we imbue with magical spells that assist us with certain things. I used one for a meeting to display the message you left within the seal." Sapphire stated.

"Have you ever imbued a stone?" The mare asked Sapphire curiously.

"Well I've only dabbled in small spells to see if I could, but I've never tried to get artsy with it." Sapphire confessed.

The two mares spoke in length over their process of imbuing magical stones. I was beginning to think that Sapphire's knowledge of rocks were of a more spiritual side than a geological one. I smiled at the not too distant memory of her crushing dirt clod after dirt clod attempting to win a bracelet. That's when I saw it.

A small piece of blue cordierite with a ghostly white aura of magic floating within it. My heart thumped hard, I could feel my flames sizzling, and I knew I wanted to give this to Sapphire.

"Please take a pamphlet and I'm so glad that the mysteries of the Arcane Stones are beloved by even the most noble of ponies."

Sapphire took the pamphlet offered to her. "I sincerely hope that you find a real Arcane Stone in your travels, it would find a good home with somepony who admires and respects them as much as you do."

I watched Sapphire walk away from the booth, her nose in the pamphlet looking over the process the mare used to imbue her stones. I was hesitant to follow, trying to find the words and the courage to ask about the cordierite.

"Two bits." The mare said.

"What?" I asked in surprise.

The mare smiled at me. "Two bits… for the cordierite stone."

I felt my face flush realizing how obvious my intentions were. I fumbled into my hoodie for the money while the mare picked up the stone to place it in a small leather pouch for me.

I offered her two bits before taking the leather pouch from her. "Thanks."

"You two are very close to one another, are you not?" The mare questioned me.

"I- uh- we-" I stammered.

"I can sense your aura... it's so very warm and inviting. I can see why she likes you."

"M-M-Must be my flames!" I remarked nervously.

I watched the mare roll her eyes at me and slightly shook her head. My face was burning hot from how embarrassed I was. I thanked her once again before hurrying after Sapphire.

Through crowds of ponies I wormed my way through, worrying that I had gotten separated from Sapphire. Luckily, I spotted Sapphire standing in a rather vacant area looking around for me as well and rushed to meet up with her.

"Hey," I said strolling up to her.

Sapphire smiled in relief. "There you are. I was worried that I had lost you in this crowd."

My heart was pounding furiously again. I wanted nothing more than to give her the stone, but I knew that this wasn't the right time. Unfortunately, this left me flustered in front of her without any good excuse so I did my best to save face.

"So… rocks, huh?" I asked.

Sapphire's face lit up. "Weren't they adorable? I really didn't know which one I wanted to get. I thought about making one of my own, but I wouldn't know what to imbue it with."

"Does it take a lot of practice to do something like that?"

"Well imbuing certain stones with the most basic of spells requires careful and detailed casting. The magic placed into the stone must be considerably powerful to allow the spell to remain within it for an extended period of time. It relies heavily on the wielder and the the stone being used because if you—"

Sapphire continued to speak about the deep arcane art of imbuing inanimate objects with great delight. My knowledge of magic had grown considerably with Mira's help, but it was mostly shadow magic. I was novice to many magical arts Sapphire knew so in-depth about. Her enthusiasm for it made me smile.

We walked on as I listened to Sapphire talk about the stones a bit more, to which it eventually evolved into her love of ice sculpting. It was a hobby that her father had shared with her and taken to it with great interest.

"Have you ever tried sculpting, Smolder?"

I was caught off guard by her question. My thoughts had been occupied by how I was going to give her the gift I had gotten her and now realizing I hadn't been paying attention.

"I… I haven't really tried… splitting rocks is about the extent of my… sculpting." I mumbled.

"I would love the opportunity to see how flame ponies carve stone. It probably has its own challenges on the type of stone used, as well as the tools needed."

Thoughts of carving statues had brought up the most frequent statue I visited from day to day. As if we were drawn here by the simple thought alone, we found ourselves at the final resting place of my father.

Wingston's memorial had been adorned with dozens of flowers, small lanterns, and candles. The eternal flame at the base burned strong, unwavering, and illuminating the features on his obsidian statue.

There were several ponies admiring the memorial. A few placing some offerings to decorate Wingston's memorial further.

I stared at the black obsidian where the eyes beneath his hooded cloak stared back at me. A whirlwind of feelings rushed back into my heart like a door being blown open. I took a deep breath trying to settle myself when I felt Sapphire's arm grip mine.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," I said smiling encouragingly. "I just wish he was here… to see all of this..."

I trailed off. I felt Sapphire's head lean against mine.

"He knows," Sapphire whispered. "And he's so very proud of what you've done here, Smolder."

I smiled. Looking back up at the memorial and slightly nodding my head to my old friend.

"We have… a… section being built just for you, Wingston. In the museum…" I mumbled. "It… it will have some of your favorite books. Parts of your old… clothing…. and some…"

I struggled to say more but knew I couldn't.

"We have commissioned some very talented artists to provide paintings of you during crucial moments in flame pony history. The exhibit will also feature Lord Scorch and Lady Glow, explaining the untold truth of what really happened to them." Sapphire added.

I looked to Sapphire who stole a glance my way before flushing slightly.

"I know that Smolder cared about you deeply and that he had to set aside his mourning for you, sooner than he was ready, to be the King everypony needed him to be. Much like you he puts the needs of the Kingdom before his own and works tirelessly to live up to everypony's expectations. He has remained studious in his academics, focused on his magical lessons, and has been the most gentle of colts to me."

I felt Sapphire lean against me and grip my arm tighter.

"I'm sorry we don't come by more often, but everything Smolder does echoes your teachings. You are always with him and I will always have his back."

I nestled my head against hers. My silent way of thanking her for speaking when I could not.

"Thank you, Sapphire." I whispered.


End file.
